Mini Crane Lifts Whale’s Skull for Museum Exhibit

Mini crane specialist GGR Group was hired by Constantine Limited to take on an extraordinary job at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, as a UNIC spider crane was used to lift the latest exhibit—a sperm whale’s skull. 

The skull belonged to a 40ft long sperm whale nicknamed “Moby” who became stranded in the River Forth in 1997 and sadly died despite rescue efforts to push him back out to sea. Now on permanent display in the museum‘s Grand Gallery, this remarkable specimen is part of the National Museum of Scotland‘s whale collection.

Exhibit logistics and installation specialist Constantine Limited and an expert operator from GGR‘s Scottish crane hire branch were on hand to carefully lift the skull up onto its 4m high stand using a 0.995t capacity UNIC URW-095 mini crane. The spider crane lifted the 4.7m long skull in two parts, first the bottom jaw was fixed into position then the 600kg main skull section was placed on top. 

The 600mm wide chassis of the UNIC mini crane meant that it could be easily navigated through doorways, narrow corridors and around corners to reach the Grand Gallery. The museum is a familiar location for GGR’s Scottish team as its mini cranes and vacuum lifters were also used to fit internal glazing as part of a major refurbishment project in 2011. 

The compact size of the UNIC URW-095 spider crane makes it a popular choice for working in restricted access areas. The LPG power (liquefied petroleum gas) and battery-powered options mean no toxic fumes are released so the crane can safely work in environmentally-sensitive and protected locations.