MacGREGOR offshore deliveries aided by floating testbedPress release, February 19, 2009 A purpose-built barge being commissioned by the end of February at MacGREGOR offshore equipment manufacturing site in Kristiansand, Norway will enhance the Offshore division production and testing capacity MacGREGOR Offshore division is expanding its equipment testing capabilities in Kristiansand, Norway, to handle business growth and a large number of active heave-compensated (AHC) offshore cranes and other subsea load-handling equipment. MacGREGOR has unrivalled experience in developing marine cargo handling and offshore load-handling solutions, and is part of Cargotec Corporation, the world's leading provider of cargo handling solutions used in local transportation, terminals, ports, distribution centres, and ships. The site need for increased testing capabilities will be met by a multi-testbed barge called MacBarge, which was ordered in the summer of 2008 and scheduled to arrive and be fully-operational by the end of February. The 76m x 23m MacBarge is designed to test two large AHC offshore cranes simultaneously, as well as winches, ROV systems and other subsea load-handling technology. It carries its own 2,000kVA power unit. Rune Byremo, director of the Kristiansand facility production department says that: As well as enhancing the capacity and flexibility of our overall testing programme, our new test barge will enable the Offshore division to meet customers demands for even bigger and more advanced offshore load-handling technology in the future. MacBarge will enable full scale testing of various MacGREGOR products to be conducted prior to installation on board vessels, improving the total efficiency of the test process. ystein Bondevik, sales director, MacGREGOR Offshore says: MacBarge will offer us the indispensable additional facilities that we now need. Also, being mobile, MacBarge will enable us to deliver fully-assembled equipment directly to our customers. This will in turn allow MacGREGOR to offer even better service and shorter delivery times, as well as lower overall costs, to its customers. The Kristiansand plant is the manufacturing and testing hub for MacGREGOR offshore load-handling equipment, and alongside AHC offshore and deck cranes, it also produces winches, A-frames, module-handling systems, launch-and-recovery systems (LARS) and rescue davits. The site covers an area of 130,000m2, including 26,000m2 of indoor workshops, a deepwater quay and a 185m x 35m drydock. The outdoor trial area currently facilitates the simultaneous testing of four AHC offshore cranes of up to 9,000 tonne metres (tm), while smaller equipment is tested inside the plant. [ends] Caption: manufacturing and testing hub for MacGREGOR offshore load-handling equipment in Kristiansand Download here the high resolution images: Facilities MacBarge For further information please contact: ystein Bondevik, Sales Director, Offshore division Tel: +47 95 72 34 13 Fax: + 47 38 01 87 01 E-mail: oystein.bondevik@macgregor-group.com or MacGREGOR Group press office: Steve Labdon, MacGREGOR Group Media Representative Tel: +44 (0)20 8370 1740 Fax: +44 (0)20 8364 1331 E-mail: steve.labdon@j-l-a.com The MacGREGOR Group MacGREGOR Group is the global market leader in engineering and service solutions for the maritime transportation and offshore industries. Ship owners, ship and port operators and shipyards in the commercial marine and offshore industries are our customers. Products include hatch covers, cranes, equipment for RoRo ships and ports, and solutions for cargo lashing, bulk handling, offshore load-handling and naval logistics. We also provide worldwide service and support. MacGREGOR's 2008 net sales totalled EUR 985 million. MacGREGOR employed 2577 people at the end of December 2008. The Group operates in 50 major shipping and shipbuilding countries and its service network consists of approximately 60 service stations. Visit our website at www.macgregor-group.com MacGREGOR is part of Cargotec Corporation, the world's leading provider of cargo handling solutions, which are used in local transportation, terminals, ports, distribution centres, and ships. Cargotec's sales total EUR 3.4 billion and it employs approximately 12,000 people. Cargotec's class B shares are quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. |