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Allseas' new cargo barge, Braveheart, is taking form at the CIMC Changhong Shipyard near Shanghai, China. Following the official keel laying ceremony on 22 April, the first of 145 huge steel blocks – together weighing a massive 26,000 tonnes – has been lifted into the dry dock for assembly, outfitting and painting.
Braveheart is being added to the fleet to boost flexibility for heavy lift campaigns. At 200 metres long and 57 metres wide, it’s a close match to Iron Lady, but with key enhancements: a deeper operational draught, a full electric ballast system for faster load transfer operations, and a significantly higher deck load capacity.
The first construction phase in the dock focuses on the bottom section of the ballast pump room housing critical equipment. Installing these blocks first allows the yard to immediately begin fitting the 1.5-metre diameter ballast pipes and four powerful ballast pumps, capable of moving nearly 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools' worth of water every hour.
Once this critical phase is complete, construction will move on to phase two: assembling the engine room. Launch of the constructed barge is expected in September, with delivery planned for end 2025.