Cargotec Ensures Worker Safety with New Truck Crane Design

Again we have news about a product innovation from Cargotec. Dutch energy firm Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), the largest gas producer in the Netherlands, recently purchased five high specification trucks and truck cranes from Cargotec.

The trucks are designed to help the servicing division of this company carry out its work. This division is responsible for regular maintenance and repairs of the company’s oil and gas wells. The process they use is called wire line well intervention. This 100-year-old technique involves the insertion of a steel wire down as far as 4 km below the earth’s surface to clean, repair, or replace a damaged part.

During the repair and maintenance process, gas can enter the atmosphere. There can be no sparks during this process—safety is of utmost importance—which is why a customized product was necessary.

Since 1994, the company has relied on seven DAF trucks outfitted with HIAB cranes. When they decided to upgrade recently, NAM again turned to HIAB and Cargotec to develop a brand new service vehicle. Cargotec completed the design and production of five new multi-functional trucks that match the unrivalled specifications required by NAM.

The final result is a DAF truck with a load platform and two HIAB cranes: a 477 T5 stiff boom crane that extends to a height of 21.3 m (for feeding the wire); and a 055 DS crane that lifts a Mobile Elevated Work Platform (MEWP) up to 7.5 m.

Other specialist features include remote control for all functions, and ATEX zone 1 certification which assures that all electrical power can be removed from both booms and the vehicle chassis when operating. These trucks are the only ones with these specifications in the world and they could potentially revolutionize wire line well servicing.

Jan Kuipers, Team Leader Wire-Line at NAM Well Service, noted that prior to 1994, the trucks he used underperformed and were hard to service. HIAB changed all that. He said: “In 1994, Hiab developed a new truck-mountable crane perfect for use in the oil and gas industries due to its long boom. We took delivery of seven, mounted on DAF trucks, and they have served us well for many years…However, the latest order, the result of ongoing and successful co-operation between NAM and Cargotec, takes our servicing capability to new levels in terms of the speed with which we can respond and the safety for those working at the well.”

Mr. Kuipers also noted how well the Cargotec team worked with his, answering questions and providing solutions throughout the development process. He believes that no other company could have matched their specification for keeping the area surrounding the well free of electrical current. And because of the MEWP and stiff boom crane being installed on the same truck, NAM requires only one vehicle to do the entire job, making the entire process more efficient.

Cees Mollema, Segmentation Manager of Cargotec EMEA Customer Solutions added that these trucks are used every day of the week and there is no reason why trucks like these couldn’t be used “to meet the need of any well servicing company looking for a more effective and safer alternative to traditional methods.”

Congratulations Cargotec on developing another innovative solution to help your clients work more safely and efficiently!

Atlas Polar carries a wide range of Cargotec products under the HIAB banner, including HIAB truck mounted cranes, Moffett trailer or truck mounted piggyback forklifts, and Multilift hooklifts.