VIDEO: Massive offshore crane collapses during load tests

YouTube video captured crane collapse

Video has surfaced on YouTube showing the collapse of a massive Liebherr offshore crane during load testing on the DEME offshore installation vessel Orion 1. Built in China, the vessel is designed to service offshore wind installation and for oil and gas and decommissioning activities.

It arrived at Liebherr’s Rostock, Germany, facility on November 22, 2019, for assembly and installation of the giant 90 meter high Liebherr TLC crane, which has a 160 meter long boom and will have a lifting height of up to 180 meters—almost twice as high as the Statue of Liberty—and a lifting capacity of 5,000 tonnes at more than 30 meters outreach.

DEME issued the following statement May 2:

A serious accident has occurred today on board of offshore installation vessel Orion 1 at the occasion of and during crane load tests. The vessel is under construction and owned by COSCO (QIDONG) OFFSHORE CO., LTD. The vessel is moored at the quayside at the Liebherr construction yard in Rostock, with the crane undergoing several load tests.

Reportedly, a few persons suffered minor injuries.

The vessel is expected for delivery to DEME NV in the second half of May 2020.

The crane has suffered significant damage, while damage to the crane and the vessel will be investigated in the upcoming days and weeks.

According to local media reports, there were 120 people on the ship at the time of the accident with five people sustaining minor injuries that were treated on an outpatient basis.

UPDATE

Liebherr says the cause of accident was the failure of a load hook designed and manufactured by an outside supplier.