Kimberley Ports Authority undertook a 72-tonne heavy lift from the vessel Normand Saracen on 9 November – it was the heaviest crane lift in the Port of Broome’s history.

The lift involved INPEX cargo known as a Christmas tree. This piece of equipment provides flow control on an oil or gas well.

Advanced planning for the lift was necessary to ensure the lift weight was within the mobile harbour crane’s 80-tonne capability.

Kimberley Ports Authority purchased the $5-million mobile harbour crane in 2020 to improve the port’s heavy-lift capacity and to provide operational efficiencies to customers.

It enables heavy lifts at Port of Broome instead of customers needing to use the ports of Darwin or Perth.

The vessel involved in the lift, Normand Saracen, is an 87.4-metre-long anchor handling vessel operated by Solstad Offshore.