YRS celebrates "Taisun's" first commercial lift

Yantai Raffles Shipyard in Shandong, the largest rig builder in China, started the commercial use of its 20,000 t gantry crane. The "Taisun" lifted the massive 14,000 t deckbox of the semi-submersible drilling rig, the ‘COSL Pioneer’ for COSL Drilling Europe AS’ (“COSL”), and mated it onto the columns and hull of the rig in one single operation, demonstrating an unprecedented feat within the industry.

YRS has received a high level of interest from contractors and owners who wish to use the crane to aid their building strategy and "Taisun" is already scheduled for eight lifts, each exceeding 10,000 t. This cutting-edge new technology truly redefines the rig-building landscape. In addition to mating an entire outfitted deckbox onto the hull of a semi-submersible rig, "Taisun’s" capabilities also include the installation of Floating, Production, Storage and Off-loading (FPSO) topsides onto the FPSO hull, decommissioning of rigs as well as hoisting of mega structures with a width of up to 120 metres.