Cranes usage

[Mike Hall]

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Following my quiz question about the above,that got somewhat sidetracked.
I have reposted the picture so that we can discuss this very interesting subject.
The cranes belong to the GEESTBAY.
Thankyou.

[John Arton]

Mike
I was mate on one geared bulker that had twin cranes on a single pedestal. In total I was 2nd mate and mate on 5 ships that had cranes. They were all haggurland cranes and were used on world wide voyages to load and discharge cargoes ranging from tagged rice , timber, steel products etc. They were hydraulic cranes and in places like the states, Canada, Oz you spent our time ensuring access to the drivers can and it's interior and can windows were spotless or the stevedores would down tools. In Canada we had to buy one driver a new set of clothing after he claimed that he had got two spots of oil on his clothes whilst climbing up into the cab. This was a daily at least twice daily job as the drivers used the cabs full of garbage at the end of their shift, even pissing in the cab and up the gulf, the Arabs would crap in the pedestals which on one model was the cab access. We also had to carry reels of spare hoist wires as any signs of damaged strands meant replacing the wire which was a pain in the button. Also greasing all the sheaves and wires with special grease along with the slewing ring was a full time job. As mate I would fill in the chain register for annual inspection and every 5 years a close up inspection carried out by class surveyor was required.
Had some great voyages on those geared bulkers but keeping the 5 cranes in tip top condition along with all the other deck maintenance tasks meant a full working day every day at sea. Then when you reached port and the shore gangs starting using them for cargo work you cringed at the way they drove them at times you felt that the way they were driving them they may pull the crane off its pedestal.
Rgds
J.A.

[vic mcclymont]

Remember seeing one of the Jensen bulkers which was fitted with deck cranes at Lithgows fitting out berth free launch.
They had obviously been testing the SWL and used a to heat a load, or the fixing weren't strong enough.
Crane was ripped out it's mount and was lying on deck in a twisted mass of metal.
Vic

[Mike Hall]

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Can some one explain the above.

[Chris Allman]

They are Stulken Derrick Cranes I seem to remember, used for heavy lifting.

[Tony Taylor]

Mike, looks like a spreader beam. Used to lift a load weighing more than the capacity of one derrick but less than the combined safe load of two.

[Ivan Cloherty]

#5 Chris I stand to be corrected but I would say that they are Thompson-Speed-Cranes rather than Stulkens, anyway both were a pain in the butt. The T-S-C was slow on discharge for general cargo. Dockers had got used to the 2.5 ton loads of Union Purchase (which were fast with the right winchmen) and wanted more money for handling 7.5/10 ton loads for the Thompson crane, even though they didn't have to work so fast, as they were slow slewing.

[Chris Allman]

Hi Ivan - I stood by a charter ship in Liverpool for a couple of days and she had identical derricks. I had never seen them before and the Chief Officer told me they were Stulken Derricks. He was a fine seaman and very keen to educate a very young 3rd Mate. I never saw them in action but I remember how they looked with the T bar top to the derrick, not at all what I had been used to.

[Ivan Cloherty]

The 'T' bar was the signature of Thompson the designer, the Stulkens were of heavier design, its like calling all vacuum cleaners Hoovers, but again I stand to be corrected, as the memory banks ain't what they used to be.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Long after my time, all I remember is the Jumbo.
Des