World's largest crane ship Pieter Schelte arrives at port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands

World's largest crane ship Pieter Schelte arrived at the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 8 December. It set sail from the South Korean Daewoo shipyards in November for completion in Rotterdam.

Swiss-Dutch off shore company Allseas commissioned the building of the $2.97 billion USD crane ship for lifting oil rigs right out of the water and move them to new destinations. It is also able to lay pipelines

Once completed later this year, the first job for the Pieter Schelte will be to dismantle oil platforms in the North Sea.

Unique twin-hull behemoth
The vessel is 124 meters wide and 382 meters long and has a lift capacity of 48,000 tons.

The length of Pieter Schelte is smaller compared to that of the largest vessel currently under construction - Shell's 488 meter long Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) ship.

However with its twin-hull behemoth, Pieter Schelte has an almost doubled width, making it one of the world's largest ships ever built. The 59 meter wide slot between the two hulls, makes it unique.

Special pit in Maasvlakte 2
Pieter Schelte moored in the Maasvlakte 2 expanded port, where the topsides lift system beams will be installed on the bows of the ship during the first months of 2015.

A special pit needed to be dredged there for the vessel.

Its first job is the removal of the 13.000 ton Yme oil platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

More information
Allseas Group S.A.
Châtel-Saint-Denis, Switzerland
+41 21 948 3500
www.allseas.com