UDS returns its floating crane from Odesa port

PJSC “Ukrainian Danube Shipping” will return its floating crane, which five years ago was given to Odesa “Hydrobudmechanization” LLC.

“The floating crane was used for work on the blind with blind trolleys, or with large loads of 10 tons or more, which could not be handled by shore cranes. In 2018, the UDP decided that the plant’s floating crane was no longer needed and leased it to “Hydrobudmehanizatsia” LLC from the city of Odesa. The crane was driven to the Odesa port,” the acting director said. general director of UDS Dmytro Moskalenko.

The rental rate was initially $300 per day — as for an ordinary mobile crane based on a truck. In the first year of operation, the company owed UDP approximately $20,000. However, they continued to cooperate with the tenant. At the beginning of 2022, the former management of the UDS concluded another contract with “Hydrobudmechanization”, according to which the lessee already owed almost UAH 1 million.

“The contract expired on June 30, but neither the debt nor the crane itself has been returned to us. The claim for debt collection is being considered in the Commercial Court of the Odesa region. Our task is to take the floating crane and drive it to Izmail,” Moskalenko said.

He emphasized that the transportation of such an object is a very expensive operation. However, a powerful floating crane is one of the conditions for the modernization of the Kilia plant slip, and it also makes it possible to perform certain operations (for example, removing barge covers) without using gantry cranes. It can also be used for transshipment of grain.

The crossing will be carried out from the Odesa port across the Danube River to the Izmail port.

The SPK-1/35 floating crane for the Danube Shipping Company was built in 1985 in Hungary. The crane is almost 40 meters long, has a displacement of 1,224 tons, and a load capacity of 35 tons. The power of the main engine is 530 kW.