Les Alizés

Ginormous Crane in Leith

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I first saw this big boy a few weeks ago hanging outside Leith Docks. It’s a truly gigantic floating crane vessel called Les Alizés which is used for constructing wind turbines. Currently working on the Inch Cape project, the monster vessel is registered in that renowned seafaring nation of Luxembourg, although owned by Belgian firm Jan de Nul Group.

It is 270m high when stretching its neck fully, which is 3 times higher than Edinburgh’s tallest building, St Mary’s Cathedral, and taller even than our inner city mountain Arthur’s Seat. Compare it to the residential tower blocks Citadel and Persevere Courts which are 51m high, on the right of the shot above.

These shots were taken on separate days, and in this image the light suddenly changed from overcast greyness to extraordinary contrasty light. The dark background was perfect for highlighting my subject.

To get an idea of scale I’ve zoomed in here on this image to show the old Harbourmasters building, aka Spooky (Scooby Doo) Lighthouse, dwarfed by the vessel.

Deciding to get a bit closer I was rewarded with a beautiful sky at sunset - you can see the Spooky Lighthouse here too.

After dark it kept working away lifting large pieces of equipment on board. It is using a specially constructed berth which sits outside the docks.

Today I was lucky to catch it with a rainbow and some more gorgeous light. If Jan de Nuls would like to commission a series of images of their vessel working in Scotland I’d be very happy to oblige.

If you fancy a walk somewhere different then you can jump on a No.11 bus (or the tram or bus to Newhaven) and go for a stroll along the seafront to the spooky lighthouse to see this massive beast close up.

Maybe see you out there.
TD

Edit: Update, Chinese Heavy Carrier Vessel MV Hua Sheng Long looks like it is loaded with lower sections of above water parts of wind turbines. I’m not sure if they are coming in for storage or out for construction. The vessel is a semi-submersible.

My newsletter has fresh weekly photo stories of Edinburgh & beyond sent direct by email if you subscribe - free if you choose or pay a wee bit to give me a regular pat on the back, and get freebies, discounts and access to live Zoom sessions.

You suggested I add a wee tips payment option - for when you don’t want, or can’t afford to subscribe but would like to offer something as a “Cheers mate, enjoyed that” gesture. So here is a link to do just that.