![[Translate to Deutsch:]](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_adt-vollansicht-2021-09-22-124013_b41b56cdf8.jpg "As unique as your vision")
Doesn't exist? Not yet.
… solutions for a future of perfect connections
Powerful, economical, and sustainable: you will already find a lot of suitable solutions to the demands of the contemporary world in our huge product range. But the world keeps on turning and Gleistein is the perfect partner for taking on new challenges. Now it is your turn to challenge us: We develop connection solutions for your individual needs, setting standards time and again!
L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped
The legacy of the artist couple Christo and Jeanne Claude, completed with support from Gleistein ropes.
The largest mobile crane in the world
Lifting heavy loads as easily as never before: Gleistein develops lifting slings with extraordinary load-bearing capacity.
SkySails - a hybrid solution
For more sustainability in commercial shipping and at the same time as a flexible alternative to wind turbines.
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Oasis Of the Seas
This buoyant little city is the largest cruise ship in the world. Held by 24 slim mooring lines.
Single-mast yacht M5
Gleistein has made yet another superlative project possible with precision-fit rigging.
L‘Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped
Ropes for one of the most exciting art projects of our time: the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, by Christo and his wife Jeanne Claude
With their eye-catching temporary installations, Christo and Jeanne Claude have created their own brand in the art scene - with ropes often playing a major role. The artist couple’s last project was the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which had been planned since 1962. It is directly linked to the “Wrapped Reichstag”, which became a celebrated symbol of the German reunification that had taken place shortly before. At that time already – just as in 2013 for the construction of the “Big Air Package” in Oberhausen’s Gasometer – Gleistein was the perfect partner for the development and manufacture of the ropes. The collaboration with the responsible “Büro für Leichtbau” under the leadership of Jörg Tritthardt ended up being a reunion among old acquaintances. 3000 meters of fire-retardant bright red rope, divided into several pieces, with matching fittings were in question. Together with the team all lengths were meticulously determined, ropes were tested under precise specifications, elongation characteristics were adjusted and colours coordinated.
To attach the 25,000 m2 of silvery-blue fabric to the monument, extensive preliminary work and calculations were necessary. A total of four models were built in scales of 1:3 and 1:10, because this project required precision down to the smallest fold. Christo, who was always perfectionist, wished for his work to be realised even after his death and it is a great honour and pleasure for Gleistein to have been part of it!
More about the project on the site of Christo and Jeanne Claude
Welcome to the land of giants: Almost 60 tonnes of weight saved with a single lifting sling
The twelve slings for heavy-lift specialist ALE are made of 128 mm thick DynaOne® twelve-braid mesh with Dyneema® SK78 and are designed for use on one of the largest cranes in the world. Each sling has a break load of 4,500 t, the safe working load being 900 t. Connected to form a combined lifting sling, they allow for a lifting capacity of unknown dimensions in the field of textile lifting equipment.
Precision work was required to splice the slings to exact length and apply the whippings. Gleistein's laboratory with its 300 t ripping machine was used for the preload of the multi-laid slings so that deflection points and splices could set and whipping work could be carried out accurately.
The individual slings weigh between 560 kg and 1,030 kg, resulting in a total weight of around 8.5 t for the combined lifting sling, approximately 57 t less than a conventional solution made of steel. These 57 t less benefit the world's largest mobile crane as a payload plus on the hook and are the decisive advantage that matters in the end. This made it possible to pre-assemble entire deck superstructures with an individual weight of up to 2,300 t to convert a container ship into an FPSO conveyor/storage platform on land and to then attach them as one piece.
A big advantage for the Brazilian shipyard, a big task for Gleistein!
Wolfram Müller, Head of Research & Development
“The task was an exciting challenge for us. The specifications required were exceptional and we had to combine various innovative manufacturing methods to accomplish the task while ensuring strength and reliability. My team of rope makers and experts from all production departments and I are very proud of the result - it would not have been possible without the unique combination of experience and skilled people as well as our new large braider, which makes the production of ropes on this scale possible in the first place.”
The superior FLX Mooring System embarks on its triumphal march
In December 2009, the Oasis of the Seas set sail on her commercial maiden voyage. Together with sister ship Allure of the Seas, which set sail a year later, she is the largest cruise ship in the world measuring 360 metres in length. The 226,800-tonne (GT) ocean giants each carry 16 passenger decks for 5,400 guests. 60,000 kW of propulsion power get the floating cities moving. But only 24 slim, blue DynaOne® mooring lines, each with a breaking load of 150,000 daN and a diameter of just 46 mm, are enough to keep the giants in position under all conditions.
This is the genesis of the FLX Mooring System, a Gleistein innovation that in this dimension can unleash all its advantages. Conventional mooring ropes are made of high-stretch fibres to absorb shocks and the movement of the ship. The FLX Mooring System uses high-modulus fibres with steel-like strength and elongation properties at one-seventh the weight. Only the quayside end is formed by a high-elongation tail, which absorbs the shock loads. The tail is designed as an easily replaceable wear element, while the long main line is only used for power transmission and can last a ship's whole lifetime. Therefore, the FLX Mooring System is not only much lighter and more compact than conventional mooring lines, but also much more economical over time. And more sustainable too, of course - it leaves behind only about a fifth of the waste.
It is therefore not surprising that the innovation has been riding a wave of success: especially in cruise shipping, where daily mooring manoeuvres are typical and handling is particularly important, Gleistein now converts whole fleets on a regular basis.
Back to the future - with high-tech ropes from Gleistein
There is no room for sailing romance, increased weather dependence and labour-intensive operation in modern commercial shipping. That's why SkySails has taken a completely new approach to sailing: the towing kite pulls in the trajectory of a constantly renewing figure eight in the sky at an altitude of around 300 metres - where the wind is stronger and more constant. The kinetic energy collected in the process is conducted to the ship via the flying rope and converted directly into propulsion: for up to 50% fuel savings or a considerable increase in speed. Apart from the launching device at the bow, the SkySails technology takes up no space on deck and can be combined with virtually any type of ship.
Gleistein has been involved as a close partner from the very beginning, because ropes take on a key function in the SkySails-System. For instance, the custom-developed flying rope with internal cable: it must conduct the captured energy to the ship persistently and safely while being as light as possible. High loads when passing deflection sheaves dynamically stress the rope, and factors such as aerodynamics need to be taken into consideration as well.
But the trajectory-controlled kite can do even more: SkySails has additionally developed a stationary version which converts wind energy into electricity and is offered as an alternative to wind turbines. In the process, to generate energy the flying rope is constantly unwound under full load and rewound with reduced resistance.
New requirements once again, and once again an exciting task for Gleistein!
With a length of around 76 m and a mast height of almost 90 m, the incredible dimensions of this yacht presented the design team at Gleistein with a whole set of new challenges. Never before had there been a single mast with such a large sail area and corresponding forces. The first owner, Joseph Vittoria, the former CEO of Avis car hire, pushed the entire design team to build a yacht of superlatives, which is still the largest single-mast sailing yacht in the world, now known under the name M5. The running rigging and associated winch systems had to be able to withstand and move previously unknown forces under severe spatial restrictions.
Gleistein, in close cooperation with the winch manufacturer, finally delivered special DynaOne® HS ropes made of Dyneema® SK75 with a newly developed special GeoThane® coating, which have breaking loads of more than 120 tonnes. Rope diameters of up to 34 mm had never been seen before in running rigging. Such dimensions are still a rarity today due to the M5’s huge sails - her UPS Genoa alone has an area of more than 1,833 m².
Even in 2021, M5 is still one of the ten largest sailing yachts in the world. Mast height and overall length are still the benchmarks for single-masted sailing yachts - although many such projects had been planned in the meantime. But none of them have become reality so far.