Powered by its unique portfolio of brands, The Crosby Group addresses customers’ challenges, including schedule attainment, project cost and total cost of ownership, and industry knowledge around topside and subsea lifts, in the world of offshore wind.
The Crosby Group is established as a global lifting, rigging, material handling and mooring hardware partner to the renewable energy sector, and has one of the most extensive, global engineering teams in the industry. Its product range combines to cover the entire wind energy supply chain, including the plate clamps, pipe hooks and shackles used during monopile fabrication, shackles for topside and subsea lifts, and load cells utilized for inspection of installed equipment.
Anchoring a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine
One example of how The Crosby Group supports the offshore wind industry was recently demonstrated by an order for chain accessories from Crosby|Feubo. These were used for a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) project from a European client.
The scope of work included the design, manufacturing and testing of long-term mooring shackles. Driven by a project timeframe restriction from the client and given a 3-month window of opportunity, the package was successfully delivered on-time and within initial budget. The Crosby Group’s experienced and skilled engineering team with over three decades of experience with this application delivered the chain accessories, complete with extensive in-house machining and testing.
Also of note, The Crosby Group recently launched into the wind energy market the HFL Kenter, a new high fatigue life shackle, under the Crosby|Feubo brand. The shackle showcases design improvements on the popular Crosby|Feubo NDur Link, an accessory used for temporary and mobile mooring applications such as rigging and anchoring offshore platforms or vessels. The product can connect to a variety of stud link anchor chain or other mooring accessories such as sockets and swivels.
Richard Berg, Business Development Manager at The Crosby Group, said: “We recognize the importance of offshore wind in the renewable energy transition and we are well positioned to support OEMs, contractors and channel partners with our wide and deep portfolio of lifting, rigging and mooring hardware and expertise through our marketing leading Crosby, Gunnebo Industries, Straightpoint and Feubo brands.”
A Diverse Portfolio for New Applications
Another example of how The Crosby Group recently supported the offshore wind industry is with the delivery of turnbuckles for a leading wind turbine OEM to be used at Kriegers Flak wind farm outside of the coast of Denmark. Despite the tight delivery schedule, the company delivered 700 turnbuckles to be used together with wire slings to tighten both sides of tower sections, ensuring they don’t ovalize during transport and storage.
The Crosby Group also provides connectors for anchors, chains, wire rope, and synthetics as well as a variety of other components that are utilized in many applications by oil and gas, and renewable energy professionals.
Another key focus area for the group is offering easy access to broad expertise and raising awareness of the importance of a well-trained workforce. Leveraging a worldwide network of 3,000-plus regional distributors, The Crosby Group supports end users through its breadth of product range, product availability close to the point of use, and a strategic commitment to vertically integrated manufacturing. Vertical integration provides complete control of the manufacturing process from raw material to finished goods to produce the highest quality hardware, further enabling safe and efficient lifting operations.