What was world’s second largest crane vessel doing off Aberdeen?

The giant ship is now moving away from Scotland after a spell off the north-east coast.

By Hamish Penman and Keith Findlay

August 24 2023, 6:11 pm

Thialf, once the world's largest lifting barge. Image: Shutterstock

There are usually plenty of vessels off the coast of Aberdeen but an extra large one caught many an eye before she started moving north earlier today.

For more than a week Heerema Marine Contractor’s Thialf semi-submersible crane was moored a few miles from the Granite City.

As of 5.30pm today, she was about 30 miles east of the Buchan coast and heading towards Norway.

Name derives from Norse mythology

Her two colossal cranes, with a combined lifting capacity of about 14,000 tons, were spotted from various locations along the Aberdeenshire coastline, and several images were shared online.

Thialf takes her name from Norse mythology, specifically from one of the two servants of hammer-wielding god Thor.

She was once the largest vessel of her kind in the world, before sister ship Sleipnir claimed the title in 2019.

Thialf is no stranger to the UK North Sea

Thiaf boasts 38 years of lifting, and has installed and removed countless North Sea structures.

Earlier this year the mammoth craft carried out decommissioning work on DNO’s Schooner asset, carrying off the jacket and topsides from the southern North Sea field.

Built in 1985, Thialf set a world-record in 2000 by lifting Shell’s 11,700-ton Shearwater production hub topside in the North Sea.

Thialf and Sleipnir were used to remove of the Brae Bravo platform for Taqa. It was the first time the sister ships had worked side by side.

Thialf and Sleipnir on decommissioning duty on Taqa's Brae field east of Shetland. — Thialf and Sleipnir on decommissioning duty on Taqa’s Brae field east of Shetland. Image: Taqa

Heerema’s Thialf vessel installing the topside at Seagreen.

In 2021 Thialf removed Shell’s Goldeneye wellhead platform, nearly 20 years after it installed the very same structure.

The vessel’s other renewables successes include the fitting of a 4,700-ton offshore platform topside at Seagreen, Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm.

Reactions

Unsurprisingly given her domineering position on the horizon, Thialf’s stay off Aberdeen attracted attention. Messages about the vessel were shared on social media, with people marvelling at her size.

‘An impressive sight on the horizon’, according to one social media post.

“The scale of this beast is unbelievable,” one comment said.

Another poster remarked: “Just saw that travelling to a meeting in Westhill – had to go straight on MarineTraffic (vessel tracking website) to see what it was. When it looks big from the far side of Aberdeen you know it must be a monster.”