shipyard lifting equipment

Shipyard Lifting & Transport Equipment: The Core “Heavy Lifters” of Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is a typical heavy equipment manufacturing sector, where lifting and material transfer operations are indispensable throughout the entire production process. A single hull block can weigh from dozens of tons to over a thousand tons, making large-scale lifting and transport equipment a fundamental necessity for any shipyard. As the “heavy lifters” of shipyards, high-performance and comprehensive lifting & transport systems form the core foundation supporting a shipyard’s production capacity and shipbuilding capability.

1. Large Lifting Equipment: Mainstay of Core Hoisting Operations

Large lifting equipment undertakes critical processes such as hull block lifting and block erection, making it one of the most core production assets in shipyards. Different types of equipment are tailored to distinct operation scenarios, forming full-coverage hoisting capacity across the entire shipyard.

Goliath Crane

The Goliath Crane is the most representative and widely used large lifting equipment in shipyards. Featuring a long-span structure that covers large work areas, it is commonly installed alongside dry docks and building berths. Its typical lifting capacity ranges from 500 tons to 2200 tons, and the tonnage level of Goliath Cranes is widely recognized as a key indicator of a shipyard’s overall shipbuilding capacity.

Configurations of large-tonnage Goliath Cranes in benchmark shipyards worldwide:

  • Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding is constructing a 2200-ton × 155-meter Goliath Crane, which marks the largest lifting capacity ever built within China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), with a winning bid price of 169.9 million RMB.
  • Jiangnan Shipyard is already equipped with a 1600-ton Goliath Crane to support hoisting demands for large vessel construction.
  • The No.4 Dry Dock of the King Salman Shipyard project adopts a 1600-ton + 500-ton combined lifting Goliath Crane configuration. The 1600-ton unit boasts a net lifting height of 113.5 meters, ranking first in the world.
  • The No.3 Dry Dock of Hengli Heavy Industry is equipped with two 2000-ton Goliath Cranes plus one 600-ton Goliath Crane, delivering the largest lifting capacity of any single dry dock globally.

Portal Crane

Portal cranes share a similar overall structure with Goliath cranes but differ in detailed design. With a typical lifting capacity of several hundred tons, they serve as a supplement to Goliath cranes and adapt to hoisting demands in different operation zones.

Pedestal Crane (Slewing Crane)

Pedestal cranes are conventional lifting equipment deployed at wharves and dry dock edges, with lifting capacities ranging from dozens to hundreds of tons. They are mainly used for wharf cargo handling and hull component lifting, featuring high operational flexibility and ideal for shoreline operation scenarios.

Overhead Crane

Overhead cranes are primarily installed inside workshops, with a typical tonnage ranging from 5 tons to 100 tons. They are responsible for lifting and transferring steel plates and small components within workshops, serving as basic lifting equipment for shipyard pre-treatment workshops and block fabrication workshops.

2. In-Plant Transport Equipment: Efficient Link for Component Flow

In addition to high-altitude hoisting operations, the horizontal transfer of hull blocks and various components within the shipyard also requires professional transport equipment. In-plant transport equipment covers all scenarios from heavy-load long-distance transfer to short-distance material handling, ensuring smooth connection of production processes.

Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT)

The Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT) is the core equipment for heavy block transportation. Adopting a modular combination design, it can be flexibly configured according to transport requirements, capable of carrying hull blocks of thousands of tons, with outstanding heavy-load capacity and site adaptability.

Rail Transporter

Rail transporters operate along fixed on-site tracks, suitable for material and component transfer along fixed routes. Featuring stable operation and high transport efficiency, they represent the mainstream solution for regular fixed-path transfer within shipyards.

Electric Flat Cars / Forklifts / Hydraulic Pallet Trucks

This category of equipment mainly undertakes short-distance, light-load material handling. With flexible operation and high efficiency, they meet the end-point transfer demands of small components and production materials in workshops, storage yards and other areas, serving as an important supplement to the shipyard’s logistics system.

Jacking & Skidding System

Jacking and skidding systems are specially designed for precise translation and positioning of heavy components. They can perform fine position adjustment of large-tonnage hull blocks, ensuring the accuracy requirements of block erection and large equipment installation operations.

Summary

From thousand-ton class Goliath cranes to precision jacking & skidding systems, the shipyard’s lifting and transport equipment system forms the “heavy lifter” fleet of shipbuilding, covering the full workflow from component processing and block transfer to hull block erection. The configuration level of this equipment system directly determines a shipyard’s construction efficiency and the maximum tonnage of vessels it can build, making it a key component of the core competitiveness of the modern shipbuilding industry.

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