Dutch heavy lift equipment specialist Huisman has lifted the first batch of offshore wind turbine monopiles with its 2600-tonne Skyhook quayside crane at the company's facility in China.

The monopiles have a length of approximately 100 metres and weigh about 1700 tonnes excluding rigging.

Huisman said that for the Skyhook it has designed and built the largest slewing jib quayside crane in the world.

The crane is deployed at the company's own facility near Xiamen in China.

Huisman product manager cranes Cees van Veluw said: “With the high ambitions for offshore wind in various parts of the world, we see that more permanent yet more flexible lifting solutions are key to further efficiency gains in the logistics chain.

“The capacity of the Skyhook matches the foundation sizes we see in the near future, while the dual main Hoist gives large advantages to easier connection and handling of loads.

“With new marshalling ports being developed worldwide, we see that the Skyhook can contribute to further optimising the logistics of offshore wind turbines and foundations.”