Premiere in the Port of Rostock: Sarens takes delivery of the first Liebherr LR 12500-1.0 crawler crane

For Sarens, the high capacity of the new Liebherr LR 12500-1.0 was the decisive criterion in purchasing the 2,500-tonne crane. Carl Sarens, Director Technical Solutions, Projects & Engineering says: "The capacity of the LR 12500-1.0 is enormous. Operations in the renewable energy sector, such as here in Rostock, are a particular focus for the crawler crane. The handling of offshore wind turbines in ports is becoming more and more important and the individual weights of the components are constantly increasing. The initial assembly of the new crane worked very well."

During the symbolic handover of the keys to the LR 12500-1.0, Sophie Albrecht, who is responsible for the mobile and crawler crane division within the Liebherr Group, among other things, mentioned an interesting detail: "Today would have been the 108th birthday of my grandfather and company founder Hans Liebherr."

Sarens has given the new crawler crane its own name and dedicated it to a long-time employee: "Straffen Hendrik". The Flemish word "straffen", meaning strength, goodness, robustness, characterises the experienced employee Hendrik Sanders. He has been working for the Belgian company for more than 30 years and is responsible for large cranes as a project planner.

In the port of Rostock, the LR 12500-1.0 will lift 50 monopiles with a diameter of up to nine metres, a length of up to 90 metres and a weight of more than 1,400 tonnes into the water in tandem lifts with a Liebherr LR 1800-1.0 over a period of about eight weeks. Including load handling attachments, the two cranes have gross loads of up to 1,750 tonnes to move. The monopiles, huge foundations for offshore wind turbines, will then be pulled afloat to a special ship, which will then take them to the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, which is currently under construction. It is located about 30 kilometres north of the island of Rügen.