del mar
The Galician company Industrias Ferri will move a large deck to the Cotogrande Exhibition showground, where the World Fishing Exhibition is going to be held over the next few days. This deck crane is capable of operating in even the North Sea’s worst weather conditions. The model that is being moved is the same as one that has been installed on offshore ships with inverted bows (see photo) being built in Marín naval factory. The peculiarity of this device is that it can launch and recover 10 tonne boats from the sea, even in “Sea State 8” conditions, the roughest waves, thanks to its unique head. Each of these special cranes cost 290,000 Euros.
The whole X-Bow project, being constructed in Marín naval factory, aims to develop one of the best rescue vessels in the world; therefore it has used the revolutionary design of an inverted prow – similar to that of a submarine – to help the oil rigs in the North Sea in emergencies. The budget to build two boats ordered by Esvagt shipping (owned by Maersk) is 100 million Euros. The inverted brow allows penetration into the water, much like a torpedo: it pierces the water, instead of cutting it and forming the inevitable waves against the bows of conventional ships (without an inverted bow). Each ship is 80 metres long and is prepared to sail at 17 knots in heavy storm conditions.
Founded in 1965, Industrias Ferri specializes in deck equipment for the ship industry, in particular for rescue boats. Its main products are electro-hydraulic cranes, davits and winches. Ferri made 5.5 million Euros in 2008.
