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The Viking ship is the Sea Stallion from Glendalough , a replica of a 30-meter-long Viking ship built in Dublin around 1042. After the replica ship was constructed, it was transported to Roskilde, Denmark and then sailed back to Ireland to recreate a famous voyage made by the Vikings. Given the size of the ship, its historical significance and high profile status, Meade Crane Services knew this was a challenging project. Fergus Meade, director of Meade Crane Services, said control was a key factor. “The lift and move required a high-level of control and great precision,” he said. “We needed reliable machines with smooth movement and close control, which is why we opted for our GMK5130 and GMK6300 cranes.” The lift was watched by hundreds of people who gathered at Hanover Quay in Dublin to welcome the Stallion. The event attracted much media attention and the BBC’s Timewatch show and other media outlets round the world followed the construction of the Stallion and its voyage to Dublin. Careful planning and execution were important to the success of the project, with so much attention on the day of the lift. In total there were three lifts made by Meade to get the Stallion to its final resting point. The first project was to remove ballast and masts prior to lifting the boat out of the water. For this Meade sent its GMK5130, rigged with 50.6 m of main boom and 23.5 t of counterweight. With the ballasts and masts removed, the ship was lifted out of the water allowing the crew to clean it by vacuuming out excess water. The ship weighed 14 t on exiting the water, but once cleaned the weight dropped to 13 t. The Stallion was then lifted on to a low-loader trailer, ready for transport. To move the ship to Collins Barracks, home of the museum, Sean Meade & Sons had to wait until 11 pm to avoid traffic congestion. After 30 minutes travel, the load arrived at Croppie Arce – the next lifting point – in front of Collins Barracks. Because the gates at Croppie Arce were not big enough for the Stallion to drive through, the GMK5130 lifted it off the road and into Croppie Arce’s compound for reloading on to the trailer. The crane had 40.1 t of counterweight and 45.8 m of boom for this lift. Once back on the trailer, the boat was maneuvered to the end of Croppie Arce and lifted into Collins Barracks with the help of a 200 t crane. Though the ship was now inside Collins Barracks, it needed to get to the courtyard where it would eventually be on show. This courtyard was surrounded by buildings on all sides, so the Stallion had to be lifted up and over into the courtyard. For this lift Meade chose a GMK6300, with 100 t of counterweight and 23 m of main boom and 45 m of luffing jib. It then hoisted the ship high over the surrounding buildings and safely into the courtyard. The Sea Stallion from Glendalough will be on display at the Museum of Ireland until the middle of 2008. 
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News Release
