Notable successes were the supply of 10 ton electric mooring capstans for Rossaveel Harbour in Co. Kerry, Ireland and a 36 ton chain winch for a linkspan bridge. A pair of 15 ton winches with automatic spooling gear have recently been despatched for mooring duties on a vessel working off the west coast of Africa and North Sea Winches is currently building a 30 ton towing winch for use on a Danish tug.
On Stand 217 at Seawork 2009 North Sea Winches will be displaying (in photographs) the biggest winches which the company has made to date, a pair of 185 ton hydraulic models for wellhead operations in the Gulf of Mexico. These winches are driven by four piston type hydraulic motors through planetary gearboxes onto an open ring gear to achieve the required performance. The drums are designed to hold 230m of 35mm wire or 90m of 3.5” rope, which is spooled on with automatic guiding gear.
North Yorkshire UK based North Sea Winches continues to forge ahead with new designs for the tug market and will also be displaying a 50 ton waterfall type anchor handling and towing winch with remote controlled self-calibrating dog clutches. This winch was for the recently completed MV ‘Al Barkut’, the innovative new 35m tug built at Hepworth Shipyard for Holyhead Towing Company.
Designs are also on the board for 60 and 80 ton AHTS winches with complete wheelhouse control. All designs are done in-house, which means that North Sea Winches can cater for most hydraulic winch requirements from 500kg pull upwards.
Other ongoing projects are a 25 ton constant tension winch with self contained electro-hydraulic power pack and a 40 ton towing winch and windlass package for a 25m tug. The towing winch package is to be supplied with a full hydraulic system including wheelhouse remotes.
