Smit worldwide

Smit Transport & Heavy Lift's sheerlegs fleet were in strong demand in 2007, due to the large number of global salvage and wreck removal operations, plus offshore and civil projects worldwide. In the third quarter of 2007, the company says it reached a milestone with the completion of the work to clear debris following hurricanes Katrinaand Rita in 2005.

“These assignments have required two full seasons offshore, with Smit sheerlegs playing a lead role. Much of the work has focused on the removal of nine legs torn from three Global SanteFe jack-ups when the hurricanes struck the region two years ago,” a Smit spokesperson explained.

The sheerlegs Taklift 1 has since returned to Venezuela, to continue work in the Maracaibo region. Meanwhile, the 1,000 tonne lifting capacity Smit Cyclone returned to Singapore to begin preparations for a new project following the removal of the Hyundai 105 vehicle carrier wreck.

The carrier was lost in 2004 following a collision with a Japanese tanker in the Singapore Straight, in Indonesian waters, off the coast of Batam. Hyundai 105 had 4,191 cars on board when it sank in 50 m of water, coming to rest upside down. A major salvage fleet will be needed for the full removal of the wreck, says Smit, including the Smit Cyclone, the Smit Andaman, which acted as the cutting barge, along with work vessel the Smit Ibis and a number of tugs and barges.

The removal programme requires the sunken vessel to be to be chain cut with the upturned lower hull and bottom removed section by section. Each section will be lifted onto barges and transported for shore disposal, before the remains are removed by Smit Cyclone, equipped with Smit's 600 tonne capacity HDW1 grab.

In the offshore sector, Smit has started heavy lifting on some Brazilian FPUs (floating production units) which are under construction. Two sheerlegs, Taklift 4 and Taklift 6, completed work at the FPU P51 at Angra dos Reis near Rio de Janeiro.