As part of the process to allow the Hikitia’s crane to be used for commercial lifts we were required to do a test lift – and not only a test lift to the required capacity, but a 25% overload to prove the crane structure as fit for use.  Where to find the requisite weight? When we had done a previous test in 2004 which turned into a 100tonne lift, we’d been able to use one of the pontoons left over from the fast ferry linkspans, but this pontoon had later been lifted onto Aotea Quay by Hikitia, for scrapping.

Here's a photo from the 2004 test lift using a linkspan pontoon: