In 2006′ Allseas’ bought the ship ‘Geeview’, which was delivered as a bulk carrier in 2005. ‘Allseas’ had the ship converted at Keppel Verolme (Rozenburg) into a deep-sea pipelayer. At that time the largest pipelayer in the world. GustoMSC was involved in the basic design, which was developed by ‘Allseas’ for conversion from bulk carrier to pipelayer. The biggest, apart from other engineering tasks, visible participation of GustoMSC is the SHF (Stinger Handling Frame), which was largely built in the bow. The HSF can determine the angle at which the stinger is sunk into the water. In 2007 the ‘Audacia’ was delivered to ‘Allseas’. In the photo, she is moored in the Calandkanaal.
In the background a project of the old Gustowerf (closed in 1978)/GustoMSC the semi-submersible crane vessel ‘Balder’. The ‘Balder’ and her sister ship ‘Hermod’ were developed by Werf Gusto in 1976 based on the characteristics of the semi-submersible pipelayer ‘Viking Piper’ (Co. 928) designed and built by Werf Gusto. Since Heerema was involved in the development of the pipelayer, she got the idea to use this concept for crane vessels. Heerema contacted Gusto for the development of the cranes, but Gusto was also interested in the design of the submersible part. Heerema handed over her studies and had them assessed by Werf Gusto. Because crane vessels are less dependent on wind speeds for their work, as is the case for drilling and pipe laying at sea, Gusto came up with an alternative design of a semi-submersible hull. Heerema was impressed and chose the Gusto design. The ‘Balder’ was equipped with two cranes of 3000 and 2000 tons respectively. Gusto advised to build the crane vessel elsewhere and not in Schiedam, because during the construction of the pipelayer ‘Viking Piper’ it turned out that Werf Gusto was housed too small to build ships of this calibre and ditto cranes. It was decided to have the hulls of the semi-submersibles built in Japan by Mitsui and the cranes under license by Sumitomo. Since the Japanese could build the ‘Balder’ for half the price compared to European shipyards, Heerema decided to order a second one: the ‘Hermod’. The crane vessels were delivered in 1978 and Heerema was the market leader in one fell swoop.
Over the years, various upgrades have been made to the ‘Balder’, such as upgrading the cranes from 1000 tons of extra lifting power per crane, adjustments to the hull by installing a deep-sea pipelay system. In the photo, you can see an upgrade of the ‘small crane’. On top of the huge boom, another tip had to be made (Fly-jib) to make this crane suitable to hoist cargo on its deck, which was needed for the pipe laying system. The crane had to be higher and the tip had to work at a different angle. The ‘Fly-jib’ was developed by GustoMSC and built by Bergum Staalbouw in Bergum. The ‘Fly-jib’ was installed at the time by the adjacent crane vessel ‘Thialf’.
Source: Gusto Insight no. 7 2002, Inside nr. 8 2006 nr. 9 2007, 150 years of Heritage page 60
photo: flicker.com / photographer: DirkJan
Heritage Yard Gusto Foundation 2021
Laatst bijgewerkt op: 9 augustus 2022
