Project Cargo Specialist Sees Room for Expansion

GERMANY – WORLDWIDE – Project cargo specialist Hamburg headquartered SAL Heavy Lift can trace its roots back over 150 years, but in 2017 it became part of the Harren & Partner group and now says it will expand its fleet early in 2020 with the addition of three heavy lift vessels, each with 800 tonnes lifting capacity.

The latest additions differ wildly from that first vessel, launched in 1865 the sailing ship Amoenitas had a mere 140 tonne cargo capability. The new vessels are reliable workhorses of the well-known and commonly recognised P1 Type design. They are geared with two 400 tonne SWL cranes capable of lifting up to 800 tonnes in tandem plus an additional 120 tonne SWL crane.

The vessels will enter the SAL fleet as type ‘171’ following the long tradition of categorising vessels at SAL and the additions are aimed at strengthening its semi-liner service and underline SAL as a leading player in the heavy lift and project cargo segment. Sebastian Westphal, CTO, SAL Heavy Lift commented:

“The vessels are, as the rest of our fleet, equipped with reliable high-quality machinery. With cranes from TTS-NMF, main engines from MAN and MacGregor hatch covers, the vessels are built with equipment with which we have tremendous experience. Despite obvious design differences with our other vessels the Type 171 will be reliable work tools in our fleet and will add value.”

SAL is strengthening its fleet during a time when a greater part of its existing heavy lift fleet is engaged in renewable and oil & gas projects. The new vessels can operate in arctic areas and SAL will now offer Northeast passage transits when suitable. Karsten Behrens, Director, SAL Engineering:

“The Type 171 vessels come with certain technical features such as ice class E3, equivalent to Finnish/Swedish 1A, amongst the highest in the industry. The vessels also have very high crane pedestals which provide a much greater lifting height, in fact amongst the best in our fleet. In combination with the strong hydraulic hatch covers and large box-shaped holds with multiple tween deck configurations, it gives us an array of options when taking break bulk cargo on board.”

MV Hanna, MV Klara and MV Lisa will join the SAL fleet in the first quarter of 2020. These names represent family members of the former owner Heino Winter Group which will continue to handle the technical ship management of the three vessels. Dr. Martin Harren, CEO, SAL Heavy Lift said:

”We have a long-lasting relation with the Winter family, and I am happy to see their continued involvement with these three ‘large ladies’ [and] am very happy that we have been able to add these vessels to our heavy lift fleet. This way SAL will be able to service clients who may at times look for ships that can take larger volumes of cargo in combination with heavy lift items.

”With SAL Engineering providing the engineering solutions and our SAL crew manning the vessels, we continue to offer our well-known SAL quality and know-how, but on a larger scale, something that I am sure clients, both new and existing, will come to appreciate.”