Two New Liebherr Cranes with Sycratronic at the Port of St. Nazaire

The Port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire has renewed its fleet of mobile harbor cranes and has also opted for Liebherr’s Sycratronic assistance system. The tandem lifting system is used in the growing onshore and offshore wind industry. Liebherr mobile harbor cranes equipped with Sycratronic are increasingly being used for long and heavy components such as rotor blades or turbines.

(Rostock/ St. Nazaire) The Sycratronic system enhances the safety of tandem operations and makes it easier for terminal operators to increase their lifting capacities when combining two Liebherr mobile harbor cranes. The system was developed to improve crane operations in all heavy load areas. It has proven increasingly useful, particularly in the onshore and offshore wind industry, where long components such as rotor blades and heavy parts like wind turbines have become the norm. Tandem lifts are ideal for such applications, and this is where Sycratronic comes into play.

Port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire Relies on Liebherr Technology

The Port of Nantes-Saint Nazaire is a new Liebherr customer. The terminal aims to renew and modernize its old equipment with Liebherr mobile harbor crane technology. Key criteria were the mobility of the machines and the ability to perform tandem lifts. The terminal opted for an LHM 550 with a lifting capacity of up to 154 tons and an LHM 600 with a maximum lifting capacity of up to 208 tons. Sycratronic as a Pioneer for the Wind Industry 2

The two new cranes will handle components of offshore wind turbines and assemble them for the offshore wind farm “Parc du

Banc de Guérande.” The new wind farm by General Electric is located 12 km off the coast of Loire-Atlantique and is expected to be operational in 2022. The wind farm consists of 80 offshore wind turbines with six megawatts per unit and a total capacity of 480 megawatts. Wind turbine components, rotor blades measuring 75 meters in length,

generators, and monopiles will be assembled and stored in Saint-Nazaire before being shipped to the Parc du Banc de Guérande in 2022.

“These new cranes meet our new requirements related to the development of the offshore renewable energy sector. The combination of the LHM 600 and LHM 550 cranes offers reliability and safety in handling XXL components such as masts or blades of offshore wind turbines,” explains Ludovic Bocquier, responsible for the Energy Sector Business Unit at the Port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire.

Increased Safety at Full Crane Capacity

The greatest advantages of Sycratronic are improved efficiency and increased safety. Due to the built-in safety features, the assistance system allows the crane operator to fully utilize the crane’s load curve, which is usually limited to 75% during tandem lifts. This alone is a significant advantage, as it increases the usable lifting capacity of each crane by 25%. Safety is also massively improved by the system. The Sycratronic system monitors potential shifts in the center of gravity and can automatically correct them to ensure the best stability during a tandem lift. However, the greatest safety-related advantage is the elimination of communication errors between two crane operators, which are one of the main causes of accidents, especially during tandem lift operations.

How It Works

Through a Controller Area Network (CAN-Bus), the Sycratronic system connects two cranes and enables communication between their central processing units (CPU). This allows the leading machine to provide the following machine with inputs such as swing angle, lift height, and weight on the hook. This means that the following crane does not simply follow its predecessor. It can calculate what needs to be done to compensate for or correct a specific tandem lift movement. Sycratronic as a Pioneer for the Wind Industry 3

In fact, this makes it possible for one crane operator to operate both cranes simultaneously. In some cases, this may not be allowed for insurance reasons or due to national requirements. Even in such cases, however, companies can staff the following crane with less experienced crane operators, thereby utilizing their experienced operators more efficiently.

About Nantes Saint-Nazaire Port

The Port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire is an international multimodal platform, an industrial tool for economic and regional development, and plays an important role in the attractiveness of the Greater West region. It is the fourth largest port in the metropolitan area and the leading port on the French Atlantic coast. For importing and exporting companies in the regions of Greater West France, the Port of Nantes – Saint Nazaire provides services aimed at optimizing supply and distribution chains.

The Port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire is France’s leading port for Marine Renewable Energy and offers infrastructures and services suitable for the MRE sector: 15 tons of capacity per m², equipment that enables the handling of bulky components, 12 hectares of space for the pre-assembly of offshore wind turbines; road access suitable for handling XXL loads; a developed site specifically designed to accommodate activities in the field of environmental technology and renewable energies.

About Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock GmbH

Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock GmbH is one of the leading European manufacturers of maritime material handling solutions. The product range includes ship, mobile harbor, and offshore cranes. Reachstackers and components for container cranes are also included in the product portfolio.

Photo: © Liebherr