Gigantic Wind Park Relocation | Mega Transports | Free Documentary

a wind park to deliver much-needed green energy needs to get from Europe to Asia over 2,000 tons of highly sensitive cargo on one of the world's largest heavy lift vessels to transport the entire cargo the crew will have to construct an additional level in the middle of the deck with 400 tonnes it's too much of a racist always come to a project never before undertaken anywhere in the world and no one knows if the risky plan will prove successful in the end a challenging mega transport now [Music] kook Sutphin in the north of Germany our starting point for this wind park transport the first portion of the cargo is already waiting at port five gigantic the cells each one is 8 meters high and 21 meters long weighing a hefty 400 tons as much as a Boeing 747 to transport the nacelles to Asia they need the services of none other than the annasophia one of the largest heavy lift vessels in the world 160 meters long 24 meters wide and a load capacity of 13,000 tons each of her three cranes can lift up to 700 tons in one go the cargo deck enormous but even that's not going to be enough for a transport of this size the crew will have to build a second deck on the ship during the journey and cooks off in Germany the crew starts by loading than the cells then it's off to Scandinavia the second portion of the cargo 975 meter long blades are waiting in the Danish port of oil Borg from there the AMA Sophie makes its way to Asia the route runs through the historic Straits of Gibraltar and through each of Suez Canal all the way across the Indian Ocean and through the Straits of Malacca to its final destination the port of taichung in Taiwan the times scheduled for the mega transport just 37 days the person responsible for getting the high-tech equipment to its destination undamaged his project manager Jakob en su he's been planning to make a transport for a year now the whole thing is a major logistical challenge because any little delay sets off a chain reaction which in the worst case could lead to a construction shutdown over in Asia you're not really used to moving offshore turbines around the world this is one of the first times that you do it for a major project but we can't afford any delays or anything like that something goes wrong it would be bad for future business right so everybody is really focused on this project first project manager Jakob steam must bring the new cells from the safe storage area to the exposed pier avoiding even the smallest vibration in the process the electronic control systems have already been mounted to the wind turbines any damage to internal parts could go unnoticed until the offshore wind park is installed and operational or not as the case may be the complex loading process has been developed especially for this transport the first thing Jakob steam has to do is to position the five new cells into the cargo hold with centimeter precision then they close the deck because on top of it they'll have to position six of the nine blades they're carrying at the end of the process the team will have to increase the ship's overall load capacity beyond its maximum which means going so far as building an entirely new level the so called mezzanine deck which will carry the last three blades to be able to load such a cargo at all the team first has to pull up a huge stability pontoon alongside the Anna Sophie it functions as a counterweight and is designed to keep the heavy lift vessel from capsizing because at 400 tons every single nacelle is a major challenge even for this highly specialized ship responsible for the smooth loading process is chief mate Stefan hink foot he and his people transport the valuable and highly sensitive cargo for the logistics providers so members on SSI means a lot of the thing that's so special about this cargo is that it's not just a big hunk of iron but rather piece of high-tech equipment we have to be extremely careful with it Stefan's crew now has take-up of the stabilizing pontoon to the ship using a gigantic pin they hooked on but from the driver's cab the crane driver can't even see the guide he has to rely totally on directions from Stefan and his team guys we've bring it out now yeah okay now all that's missing are the bolts think as a human arm filled with water the pontoon weighs in at 365 metric tons [Music] time is already pressing just one and a half sleepless days are left for the crew to load all the wind parks in the cells well it's a major effort because despite the intense preparations getting each of the new cells on board is more than precarious the pontoon offers some basic stability but turning a crane carrying a 400-ton the cell makes the load shift in a big way to compensate the onna Sofie uses for ballast water tanks in the hole which are joined together using pipes and pumps during each loading process the crew pumps around 550 thousand litres of water from one side to the other compensating for the crane movements and keeping the ship in balance meanwhile project manager Jakob steam has since reached the pier with the first nacelle the goal to get three of the colossal units on board by the end of the day it's the only way they'll be able to keep to the schedule the heavy lift vessels cargo hold is 110 meters long and 17 meters wide basically gigantic but to fit all fiber than the cells in here the crew has to position them just a half meter apart from each other the loading process should begin any second but that current weather forecast is giving the project manager some legitimate concerns not too much wind so we're crossing our feeling goes for nice weather set of shoots that's a big surface so when you have strong wind on the side of the nacelle it's gonna move in the worst situation our team could lose control and the cargo could smash against the side of the vessel chief maid Stefan's job to make sure that doesn't happen I always tell the captain what's happening below then I get the weights how much is already on the hook and then I tell him when something starts to move so that he knows when the crane can complete the lift as soon as it's lifted I'll take over again lift it up swing it in and then we can hopefully lower the nacelle into position without any damage so let's see what happens looking all the wind park components have been specially designed to fit together and can only be replaced with a huge effort any damage to the cladding or the electronics could delay construction of the system by months [Music] slide freezing off partial sight responsible for the ballast water balancing Frank Escher as soon as the ship's crane begins moving with the load the captain pumps 500,000 liters of water through the hall of the annasophia she does music there is no risk of the ship tipping over when we make the list but if the list is changed and the crane is no longer correctly aligned of the cargo there's a risk that the cargo will swing away make sure then you have to start counteracting quickly because if the swinging increases the effects on the ship increase which means the ship begins to rock and then also the cargo rocks more and more wood with the Laden ton may avoid yet another risky point the ships at port make waves which set the annasophia to rocking to prevent this there's a speed limit of 18 kilometers an hour during the loading process meanwhile the full weight of the nacelle is being suspended by the crane look up it's a bomb using only simple ropes the crew tries to keep the nacelle from rotating it's a tall order for controlling 400 tons chief maid Stefan has to be in several places at the same time everything's fine wind waves crane rotation every little thing can cause Stefan to lose control of the load but this is what he is trained to do I'll list us about one degree now so I will stop for a moment yeah at the theater nuts and a cell has swung over so far that we can lower it now the pumps are stopped the crane driver lowers the cargo and when it is down in the cargo hold about one meter above the floor Stefan will start swinging it and knock over to port side to the final position and then we can set it down with the opposite spell enjoy first the crane driver maneuvers the nacelle through the center of the hatch this minimizes the risk of crashing against the bulkhead chief maid Stefan and his crew then take over the actual positioning work using nothing but pure muscle trained for the task despite the gigantic dimensions the margin for error when positioning is mere centimeters seventy centimeters more to the forward and I need to catch a first this nacelle here is the one that determines the position of all the others if I'm very generous here now with the space to the front then we might not have enough space for the other four in the end that's why we have to be very precise otherwise the worst-case scenario is everything out again now we're getting closer and just two hours later the first nacelle is in position let's go all good the workers immediately begin to secure the cargo with 22 so-called stoppers metal plates welded to the floor and then flashing wires made of steel on the high seas and with waves 10 metres high the Nichelle's are not allowed to shift even one centimeter technicians also rushed to connect the nacelle to a power supply the rotor heads need to rotate during the entire crossing otherwise the rocking motion of the ship could cause their highly sensitive custom machined bearings to loosen and break damage that would cost millions [Music] unsure preparations for loading the second nacelle are already underway but the wind is clearly kicking up waves are rising higher it's risky business for the mega transport [Music] oh damn that's really cutting in here not just vibrating but cutting but the team makes an attempt anyway but even the crossbeam is barely controllable the ship shortcuts the ship is rocking too hard from the motion of the sea the waves are crashing in this causes the ship to move and therefore also causes the crane to rock if we lift the cargo now it would be uncontrollable ship and cargo would build up against each other like a pendulum that's out of control with a weight of 400 tonnes it's too much of a risk for the first time work has come to a standstill the risk of a crash is just too great it's a decision that puts the entire schedule of the million euro project at risk of failure from the first day we have to plan from now on and see what we can do but I don't think we're allowed anymore today I think the wind is gonna continue like this this afternoon and tonight so we are starting to plan for tomorrow it's such a desperate situation that all project manager Jakob and his team can do is hope but Jakob has fortune on his side overnight the winds died down early the next morning the team is up and ready to start the next attempt we are a little bit under pressure today to complete the loading missiles today we will try it hopefully by this time they should have had three of the net cells on board already at the moment they have only managed one and the pressure is mounting Bank for Frank - Stefan yes the lifting - looks good now we can start 5-0 on the hook all ready to reach Taiwan and 36 days the Anna sophie has to sail out in less than 24 hours for the moment the twin threat of wind and wave remains stable the team loads in the cells number two and three and record time it's very likely that we can manage all for today but it depends on how well we can guide the next one in if this goes well then I'll start getting optimistic by around noon it's a different story altogether and the onna Sofie starts to rock again they've been wim is at 20 knots when force five but the team decides to carry on anyway at first everything seems to be under control but another stronger gust of wind arises chief maid Stefan sounds the alarm Frankie okay then set it back down the gust of wind has caught the nacelle almost sending it crashing into the ships hole the team consults for over an hour checks the weather forecast and then they call it off the worst case has happened because now the mega transport is already a whole day behind schedule nothing more to do today but load less sensitive parts and hope for day three at this point the honest official read e be at sea on its way to the next stop Denmark but no one knows whether they'll be able to finally get the last tuna cells on board today if we can look before our lunch it's okay after lunch I think wind speed will be too high then we have to suspend the loading for today unfortunately for the winds to triumph over our crew again today would be catastrophic the construction crew in Taiwan is already waiting for the mega transport and its valuable cargo you should be jumping it worse huge difference to yesterday that coming up and it's comfortable yeah that's what we need according to the weather forecast the team has four hours left after half the time has passed the next-to-last nacelle is finally in all that's missing is number five the most difficult of them all because the space remaining leaves a mere 50 centimeters of clearance on either side I'm Frank about thirty centimeters to starboard side first fifty wall mission accomplished just in time the last nacelle is right where it's supposed to be yeah that was easy absolutely perfect conditions couldn't have gone better even if it ended up being a day later than planned and that team has yet to face his greatest challenge at the next stop in Denmark fair they will not only have to load nine blades but also build a second floor on the ship the so called mezzanine deck [Music] captain frank checks the route he still wants to cast off today [Applause] the building the mezzanine deck is certainly something extremely challenging coming up and once again we're totally dependent on the weather those too hard we'll have to take another break in the late afternoon the Anna Sophie sets off on the next leg of the journey the mega transport takes the unassociated 700 kilometers around the tip of Denmark in just one and a half days the heavy lift vessel is scheduled to dock and oil board with a cargo in its belly that weighs as much as four Airbus a380s the mega transport draws closer to its destination without major issues and at its highest speed 20 knots that's the equivalent of 37 kilometres per hour awaiting it there are nine giant fiberglass reinforced blades some of the largest in the world each of them is 75 metres long and weighing 25 tons day five of 37 for the mega transport despite optimum conditions the anna sophie has not managed to make up the time lost in harbor in order to make time and catch up the crew starts to prepare the next step immediately after docking the construction of the critical mezzanine deck the improvised structure will soon have to carry 75 tonnes over high and often wild seas the first step is stacking containers two by two on both ends of the ship these formed the load-bearing walls of the mezzanine deck between the container stacks the crew places six of the nine blades only after they have finished can they build the floor of the special deck for this they place reinforced steel segments across the container stacks the segment's have to carry the remaining three blades the most important component of the mezzanine deck the workhorses of the maritime world shipping containers six meters long two and a half meters high and wide and extremely stable her chief mate Stefan the most critical issue when building the deck is to adhere to the plants as much as possible first the containers then the rest it could happen that the container is no longer fit into their positions if the blades shift just a tiny little bit that's why we have to set the containers up first and only then the windmill blades can be set in light Legos for grown-ups here the engineers have designed the special construction to be as simple as possible this saves valuable time when setting up and minimizes the risk of errors your whole type your type the mezzanine deck has been custom designed for this very mega transport and as with anything custom built there is no playbook of experience the crew has to trust each other and the plans of the engineers how much 50 that way yes whether or not everything fits they won't know until they're finished everything is going according to plan for now by evening two of the four container supports have been set up we'll do exactly the same thing on the other side and then we're ready to load work continues into the wee hours of the night it's the only way the team can possibly make up for the delay day six of the mega transport shortly after dawn the port crew is already moving the first blade toward the ship using a special transporter and with the greatest care possible even a slight bump is an almost 100% guarantee of a total loss trying to repair a blade that has been cast as a single piece impossible now the 75 meter blades just have to fit between the containers our trusted project manager Jakob conducts the final check we need to be careful that the distance between the place are all right if we get too close there's a chance that the place can hit each other doing the C wires so you want to make sure that we have the right distance both team leaders need additional support for the elaborate loading process from the on-site port crew [Applause] because of the blades enormous length two cranes working in tandem are needed to lift it a challenging process for a usual load but any pressure on this blade would cause it to bend and break first place will be placed on seaside a Taft and reason for that is we don't want to lift plates over each other unless that's all it's all about risks so if something go wrong we don't land on another plate so we've got only damage one way but of course nothing will go wrong [Music] once again Jakob speaks with his team about the exact end position they don't have any margin of error just a couple of centimetres too far to the left or right and the last blade won't fit into the space we use a little extra time on the first one just to have as much space for the remaining blades as possible between the tips of the blades at least one meter clearance must be maintained the dual threat of winds and waves on the high seas can cause the giant blades to sway back and forth up to half a meter any collision would mean two blades being damaged at the same time at twice the cost the original schedule foresees two days for loading but because of the delay the team of 20 wants to complete it in one [Music] and indeed around noon they have already completed the lower level but then the next bad news [Music] we have a delay on show and blade number six change our plan completely miss after Miss indeed make way for the Jakub has spent a year planning and now at the decisive moment the last rotor blade he needs is just not there he has to make new plans and to a design with which nobody has any experience the stopgap solution he sets up the rear part of the mezzanine deck first an advantage in terms of time but in terms of loading more complicated in order to get the missing blade into position his crew has to thread it in under the deck clearance above only about two meters the new plan is risky but he knows his team can get the job done they are the only thing he can trust to avoid further delays and get under way to Taiwan as soon as possible okay then Nixon easy will double the steel segment of the temporary deck weighs no less than 40 tons it's now being moved by the crew over the blades worth millions of euros this was not part of the original plan [Music] the chief mate desperately tries to find the construction plans for the deck that was the room that's that says something else but he doesn't let this minor detail throw him off I memorize everything if you're serious about it it just sinks in eventually when I now we have to go up to reposition eights only if precisely positioned in the center with an optimal distribution of weight with a 10 meter high special structure be able to withstand the stresses which now means just making sure everything is welded in the best possible way meanwhile preparations are already underway on the rest of the ship for the next stage of the mega transport the 20,000 kilometer crossing from Denmark to Taiwan for the crew in the engine room this means a thorough check of the ship's engine [Music] the nine cylinder diesel engine generates 17,000 horsepower and has been specially designed to operate under the high stress of full throttle Konstantin Smirnoff the second engineer of the anta sophie is responsible for making sure the machine is running smoothly around the clock when the engine is turning the piston is going up so we check if there's water inside normally you can feel the air coming from that valve if there's a problem there won't come air but water it means something is wrong that's why we make it turn to check it only if the Anna Sophie runs continuously at top speed and doesn't get caught in a storm and the mega transport arrived in Taiwan on time then with a delay of several hours it finally arrives at the pier the sixth late [Music] the team immediately starts the loading process and has to watch out not to collide with a floor segment which has already been installed on the mezzanine deck [Music] success only the second-floor segment of the improvised extra deck is still missing if there were a crash the 40 tons of concrete slab would simply shatter the delicate blades [Applause] [Music] but no worries everything is running like clockwork now all they have to do is the welding work on the segment to ensure maximum structural stability to do this the team stretches 30 lashing wires on each side each 2 centimetres thick and tear proof everything went according to plan quickly and smoothly on the first attempt a major success for Stefan's team the deck is up and appears to be stable at least at Port the final challenge on land is yet to come placing three more 75 meter blades on top of the mezzanine deck project manager Janka and chief maid Stefan check over their processes one more time at this juncture it's not just that the clearance is tight but more importantly the load distribution that will make all the difference at a total weight of 75 tonnes that container supports would otherwise threaten to collapse we would like Rudin and Tippin to be in the center of the of the mezzanine deck both for having space for lashing looks good at least here in the calm waters of the port the construction seems to be holding relief for project manager Jakob yes it's down happy no incidents and no damage to her goes so that's really a successful loading now we just need to do the lashing and securing and then we are ready to depart tomorrow morning a mega transport in the superlative over 2200 tons of cargo on three levels below deck on deck and above deck the annasophia is fully loaded and decked out to travel and making up the lost day on the open sea seems quite possible as long as the wind holds and the waves don't get too rough but if they do it's just another challenge for our team to overcome the blades on the newly built deck are sitting higher this means the force of every wave and every ventilation of the ship is intensified mega transport day 8 in a good hour the longest leg of them all around half the globe will begin chief mate Stefan uses the break to check everything one more time if any single part of the cargo should shift it could spark a chain reaction and then everything falls apart like dominoes I'm satisfied that the cargo is now secured we have a few minor details to take care of but we've still got one hour before the pilot arrives [Music] a few levels below in the engine room they are also making the final preparations for casting off and 20,000 kilometers at full speed ahead second engineer Konstantin Smirnoff makes sure the engine is ready for start around 15 minutes and it's warmed up and all systems are go [Music] here is a second engineer we are still starting their main engine now thank you [Music] in a few minutes the Anna Sophie can cast off captain Frank prepares the manoeuvre yes the green line will go under dick after a total of eight days to complex loading processes and more than a thousand working hours this wind park embarks on its last and longest journey of all from Denmark the honest Sophie first sales around Europe and through the Suez Canal then the heavy lift vessel crosses the Indian Ocean where the weather is especially treacherous it is expected to arrive in Taiwan in just 29 days the cargos worth in the hundreds of millions captain Frank's greatest challenge a balancing act involving route time pressure and weather conditions on the high seas the weather program it gives me an overview of the expected wind forces and the expected wave heights but for now it looks pretty good chief mate Stefan makes his way to the cargo hold every six hours day or night he and his team have to check whether the new cells are still turning if there is any technical defect the anna sophie has to stop immediately get to the next port and fly in a team of specialists to potentially rescue the cargo if they can that's the exhaust air from the nacelle it has a lot of electronics inside that's why it needs to be permanently dehumidified so I'm testing whether the exhaust air comes out here luckily the highly sensitive high-tech cargo has not caused any problems so far all rotor heads are still turning and the weather is still playing along be honest Sophie can cross the world's oceans almost continuously at its top speed of 20 knots that's 37 kilometres an hour it seems as if the crew could finally make up for the day they lost at the beginning and the makeshift deck is holding two in just four weeks the gigantic heavy transport circles half the globe day 37 sure enough the AMA Sophie reaches the port of taichung in Taiwan just a few kilometers from the location of the new wind park all that remains to be seen is whether any part of the cargo was actually damaged along the way project manager Jakob checks the blades for damage before unloading a lot of things that can happen so we're just checking if something happened and nobody noticed [Applause] but his worries proved to be unfounded looks good no issues the final challenge getting it all off the ship without a scratch at 40 degrees Celsius and humidity of over 80% no easy feat the transport vehicle what they call a self-propelled modular transporter is waiting at the pier the person responsible for getting the mega transport across these very last meters is Thomas Bjork maneuvering the 75 meter long blades is a major challenge yeah now we try not to drive the tip end of the blade into the ship because it's overhanging the SpMT with 15 meters we don't want that any crash in the final stretch would be a complete catastrophe [Music] and blown a little faster now we are out of the trouble add five kilometres an hour first the blades and then the Nestle's make their way to their temporary home fortunately the delivery location is right around the corner just 10 minutes away now we are done the cranes will do the rest of the work now these windmills will soon be the basis for the brand new offshore wind park on the coast of Taiwan they'll produce enough electricity to supply a city of 500,000 residents our project manager young cub is more than just satisfied the discharging is going smoothly and we've complete soon and then the entire project is complete and been a nice project no incidents and no damages and everything done according to schedule one of the largest heavy lift vessels in the world together with Frank Jakob Stefan and their crew have achieved the seemingly impossible 20,000 kilometers across the world's oceans with an onboard structure that has never before been attempted all the way to its final destination an unprecedented first for this mega transport

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 984,911

Rating: 4.7860494 out of 5

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, free documentaries, full documentaries, mega transport, mega transports, epic transport, heavy transport, most epic transport, autoliner, mega transport windpark, windpark documentary, giant windpark, wind energy, wind energy documentary, wind park, green energy, green energy documentary, high tech documentary

Id: PFMHFSvVMto

Length: 48min 14sec (2894 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 17 2019