Opened in 2008, the estaleiro atlântico sul (eas) shipyard aims to become one of the most important global players in the business. located in the suape area on the easternmost tip of Brazil, it is the biggest and most modern naval and offshore construction and repair shipyard in the southern hemisphere, processing 160 thousand tons of steel per year.
The strategically located shipyard has become very important to the region. Not just building vessels for international sale, and repairing ships on passing trade routes, it also constructs and repairs offshore platforms, especially for the important oil and gas producing areas in the Gulf of Mexico and near the coast of West Africa. With the sheer volume of work it must complete, the shipyard has to work fast. the large plant size allows for a substantial reduction in building times as ships are built from prefabricated hull blocks.
The solution
To lift these blocks, eas ordered two gigantic Goliath Gantry Cranes, equipped with the latest in konecranes lifting technology. Both of these cranes are 100 meters high, span 164 meters, and can lift up to 1,500 tons each. Konecranes also delivered about 50 overhead industrial cranes of varying capacities.
Alone, these cranes can easily lift the average block of about 1,000 tons. But some construction uses megablocks, which are even bigger. Customers want their ships quickly and working with megablocks is essential for that international competitive edge. Larger blocks mean fewer blocks, and greater speed. The ship hull can be welded together faster in dry dock, floated and and moved along to the outfitting quay. The combined muscle of the two Goliaths can lift up to 3,000 tons.
The results
Angelo Bellelis, Ceo of eas, is very pleased with the konecranes products and solutions and is strongly considering giving the company an even more central role in future projects. “konecranes provides us with very, very high-level technology,” Bellelis says. “next time we could even put the responsibility for the whole crane project on konecranes as the main contractor.
The operators and maintenance crew like the cranes, admiring the level of technology they work with, as well as the keen attention to safety that has been built into the crane design. Crane operator Moises Batista Bezerra sums it up: “this is a great piece of equipment,” he says.
