18 October 2010
GOMS Boat Hoist

Marine Travelift’s First 700-Ton Boat Hoist Completes Two Successful Years With Grade One Marine
Shipyard Sdn. Bhd.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

700C with 16-Wheel Electronic Steering Allows Lumut, Malaysia-Based Shipyard to Lift Royal Malaysia Navy Patrol Boats

STURGEON BAY, WI (October 18, 2010) – Marine Travelift Inc. recently announced that its 700-metric-ton mobile boat hoist has completed more than two years of service and is making a significant difference in the business of its owner, Grade One Marine Shipyard Sdn. Bhd. (GOMS) in Lumut, Malaysia.

GOMS is a full-service shipyard, handling ship repairs, emergency repairs, refitting, refurbishment, scheduled maintenance, conversion work and hull, mechanical and electrical work on a routine basis. It’s also a shipbuilder, offering steel and aluminum construction for Anchor Handling Tugs (AHTS), utility vessels, accommodation barges, pipe lay barges, tugboats, patrol boats, crew boats, assault boats and more.

A few years ago, GOMS’s management began looking for new lifting equipment that could handle the yard’s diverse business mix — in particular, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) vessels. To meet the demands of such a special contract, as well as to offer an alternative shipyard facility to RMN and MMEA, the new equipment would have to be able to lift the vessels, each weighing a maximum of 700 tons.

“We selected the Marine Travelift 700C mobile boat hoist because it’s the way to keep the shipyard up to date with the latest technology and engineering,” said Tan Kiow, GOMS managing director. “With this lifting method, we know we can lift all types of vessels without defect. We also can maintain the fast turnaround we need.”

He observed that the hoist’s maneuverability suited the shipyard’s location, which has significant tidal and land limitations. He also noted Marine Travelift’s worldwide reputation for engineering and manufacturing of high-quality machines that are built to last.

“We had to consider the low cost of maintenance on a Marine Travelift mobile boat hoist over the long-term life of the machine,” he explained. GOMS ordered the Marine Travelift 700C in August 2006. The mobile boat hoist was delivered on time in April 2008, was assembled by May 3 and started its first operation just two days later. The first RMN vessel, KD Zuhrah, was hoisted on October 8 of that year.

Once word got out that the shipyard had a large mobile boat hoist on site, GOMS began lifting everything from government agencies’ vessels, tugs and supply boats to oceangoing cargo ships and megayachts.

“They became extremely busy, which hadn’t been in their original business plan!” said Stephan Chayer, Marine Travelift’s managing director of international sales and business development. “That was exciting for them; meanwhile, we were thrilled because our machines handled large cargo vessels even better than we anticipated. That’s opened up new doors for us.”

To date, the 700C has lifted 120 vessels, including the RMN vessels. It remains the largest mobile boat hoist Marine Travelift has built featuring 16-wheel electronic steering.

This patented all-wheel electronic steering enables each wheel to steer, regardless of how many wheels are on the machine. There are five optional steering modes: front, rear, coordinate, crab and carousel.

“This kind of maneuverability means you can avoid the old cumbersome ‘S’ turns of the competition,” Chayer explained. “That inspires confidence in hoist operators, and it guarantees that you’ll be able to utilize every square inch of yard space. That’s important for yards like GOMS, which does have some specific constraints in its land area.”

CEO Dato’ Che Mansor said all parties involved are very pleased with the Marine Travelift 700C’s performance.

“The most important thing is the fast upslipping and downslipping, which we can utilize within 24 hours if an emergency arises,” he said. “That kind of turnaround is very important to our operation.”

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