Skywalker removal

We recently were sent down to Freeport Bahamas to remove a "Disco" from the Princess cruise ship "Grand princess"

I towed the Chesapeake 1000 from New York to Freeport, a 6 day passage in a somewhat lumpy passage for the derrick barge.

*We lifted the 185 ton stern piece in one pick, from the ship, and took it around the harbor to a beach and set it down.

While at the shipyard we also lifted 2 swimming pools off of the "Veendam" and put 2 pool frames back aboard.

To give some scale to the crane, the lifting hook alone weighs 38 tons! The whole operation went very smoothly.

We were there for 6 days and made a 5 day passage back to NY. I rode the gulfstream until we passed Hatteras.

If you google "Skywalker removal", you can view youtube videos. Princess cruise lines' video is the best.

Our crane operator for this rig is 75 years young. He has operated it for 35 plus years.

Hey Carl. It was a good trip. The boys got some playtime in Freeport and the company made a dime.

The crane barge does have accomodations but they only get used in Offshore jobs. Our company flies the barge crew and riggers to the jobsite and they stay in nice hotels. The head rigger and the tug boys hooked up one night at the bar after work. Surely a hit to the company Amex acct! This same crane was at this shipyard 2 years ago and placed a prefabbed section of cruise ship into the drydock for attachment to the "Rotterdam"

Sailor of Fortune wrote:
...*and placed a prefabbed section of cruise ship into the drydock for attachment to the "Rotterdam"

Click to expand...

*The Rotterdam in Alaska, 2009:

I sailed on the maiden voyage of the Grand Princess, from Italy to L.A. We were finishing up her teak. At the time she was the biggest Cruise ship in the world. That lasted about 6 months and they built a larger one. Ive also worked on all the (damn ships) as we liked to call H.A. line. BB

Bill The Grand Princess is quite a Vessel. Apparently the "skywalker was a big deal, many people will miss it. The work schedule for the shipyard crew looks grueling. They get an amazing amount of work done in a short amount of time. A 24/7 operation. I think they will have to put something on the legs where the skywalker was, in order to not look unfinished.

So they wont be replacing it? Wonder what they are up to? It was a cool place on the ship. BB

That accident turned out OK for Houma Louisiana's Gulf Island Fabricators who got the contract for and built the relacement module in 12 months time.
Steve W

Charles - I don't even want to contemplate such a scenario. (knock wood)
There was a Cal dive crane in freeport that was probably a 1500-2000 ton machine from Louisiana that was doing oil company work. Very hi tech,very impressive.

As we all know anything can go wrong. A cable that parts can ruin someones day. This crane is rated for 1000 ton, so the weight of the skywalker was well within its limits.

1 month ago she was load tested at 1000 tons for her certification renewal. Grand Bahama shipyard made us do a 240 to lift and hold it for several hours prior to the other lifts.


-- Edited by Sailor of Fortune on Sunday 1st of May 2011 09:54:01 PM

Cal dive is very large these days . Beautiful equipment and lots of it. The owners did a fine job to grow that business.