‘Ngerin’, the primary research vessel for the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), recently received a new Hiab 251 Sea Crane from Cargotec.  

The Hiab Sea Crane can lift up 10,500 kilograms at maximum capacity, and 1,900 kilograms at 11.6 metres. Onboard ‘Ngerin’, the crane will be put to work assisting with scientific research on the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).

“The IMOS project is keeping the ‘Ngerin’ very busy and it was time to upgrade our onboard lifting capabilities,” said the vessel’s master Neil Chigwidden.  “Our primary function on this project is to place seabed moorings holding sensors to measure data such as salinity, fluorescence, wave height and tidal flow.”

The depth of the moorings can vary from 40 to 500 metres so the crane needs to be quite versatile. While the moorings themselves are only around 750 kilograms, the new crane the new crane needed to be able to operate safely in challenging sea conditions. The greater lifting capacity of the Hiab allowed the sensors to be deployed and retrieved in rougher seas than before. The Hiab is also used to load general stores and heavy equipment such as recompression chambers and dive equipment.  

“We’ll go out for up to 15 days depending on conditions, so the crane on the Ngerin gets a real work out,” said Chigwidden.  “Years ago, we had to manhandle heavy equipment over the bulwarks using the winch so I’m very glad we’ve got the crane.”

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