Up until last week, the amazing MPSV / GO America’s (GOA) transom mounted offshore A-Frame had a rating of 11-tons. In preparation for a job that would required the launch and retrieval of a heavier load, the Guice Offshore/Global SubDive (GO/GSD) team set out to increase the GOA’s A-Frame rating to 15-tons, based on the engineering instructions received from our partners.
Load tests are designed to ensure lifting equipment has the capacity to perform to the required standard. In our case, the client’s equipment weighed a whopping 12-tons, so the GOA’s 11-ton A-Frame needed a full strength test to go through to achieve this goal.
It all started with the nice folks at Cajun Water Weight Rentals in Harvey, LA sending the weight bags to our testing location at Derecktor Shipyard in Fort Pierce, FL. We thank Rob Mac Keen, Project Manager at Derecktor for his help, patience, and hospitality.
Weight bags were off-loaded and carefully set on the deck of the GOA, and the rigging process, led by the collective GO/GSD team began. We started by attaching a 17-ton pull-tested and inspected shackle (thank you Certex Lifting Products & Service for your speedy work), a snatch block, and the load cell to the 120,000 lb blue line.
Then, we connected the GOA’s fire hoses to each bag and started filling them up with water while NEMO & NOMAD witnessed the whole process, patiently waiting for their turn to get in the water.
We tested, and tested, and re-tested, until we achieved our goal (and beyond). We were now ready to service our client.
We are happy to announce that the GO America’s A-Frame is now rated to 15-tons and ready to provide recovery, launch & retrieval services.
In other words, the GOA grew a pair.
Need to hire our amazing surface to seafloor exploration services? No problem! Contact us, we can manage your entire project.
