Ropeblock from Oldenzaal, the designer of the faulty crane hook that caused the Orion accident, says it is appalled by the incident and the impact it has on the industry.
The accident happened in the final test phase, shortly before delivery of Liebherr-MCCtec crane HLC295000. During the test, the 5,000t crane hook failed for reasons as yet unknown. Based on current knowledge, experts believe that this caused the crane to swing back and eventually collapse. The load at which hook failure occurred was provisionally determined at approx. 2,600t.
“Based on the information that is currently available, it seems that the hook’s stem broke,” the company says in a statement.
The Dutch company says it provided the design of the crane’s lifting blocks and crane hook but outsourced manufacturing to “a certified supplier who is familiar with parts of similar and larger sizes”. Ropeblock adds that prior to manufacturing the design has been verified by the authorized body.
Ropeblock also states that the company will fully commit herself to the independent integrated investigation that is now underway to find out the true course of events and cause as soon as possible.
According to an article in the Project Cargo Journal the crane is Liebherr’s first-ever HLC295000 crane and it sees the manufacturer entering a new arena of super heavy-lift offshore cranes that is dominated by Huisman Equipment. Any sort of design flaw would be a major setback and harm the industry’s confidence in the product.
This might explain why Liebherr was quick to communicate that the cause of the accident was a faulty hook purchased from an external supplier. In its statement, the crane manufacturer explicitly states that “a design or production error of the Liebherr crane can therefore be excluded.”