Grab (tool)

A grab or mechanical grab is a mechanical device with two or more jaws (sometime clamshell-shaped), used to pick things up or to capture things. Some types include:

• Roundnose grab
• Clamshell grab
• Orange-peel grab
  • in Dutch and German they are called poliep grijpers/ Polypengreifer = "polyp grabs".

There are different ways of open/close the grabs:

• electro-hydraulic / diesel-hydraulic
• mechanical by rope(s) (1-rope, 2-ropes, 3-ropes, 4-ropes)

Grabs can be used for:

• dredging
• bulk handling (e.g. loading/unloading ships)
• salvage (e.g. ship-wrecks, oil)
• seabed sampling^[1]