Egyptian shipbuilder acquires two Grove all-terrain cranes

Egypt’s Suez Shipyard Company has purchased two new Grove all-terrain cranes, a Grove GMK5130-2 and a GMK4080-1, through Orascom Trading, the Manitowoc dealer for Egypt.

These new additions mean the facility now has seven mobile cranes, with the latest deliveries being the company’s first Manitowoc-made units, said a statement from the equipment maker. The Egyptian shipbuilder is one of the most celebrated in the region, with its facilities boasting the largest floating dock in the Middle East, as well as its oldest graving dock.

Essam Dabash, chairman of Suez Shipyard, was among a delegation from the company that travelled to the Manitowoc factory in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, to collect the cranes. He said that while Manitowoc already has a good reputation in Egypt, seeing the company’s factory — and especially the Product Verification Center (PVC) — gave him true confidence in the cranes it produces.

The PVC provides sophisticated component-level and full-vehicle testing to verify designs and durability early in product development processes, enabling Manitowoc to launch new models faster, as well as reducing warranty and field issues, the statement added.

“The tour of Wilhelmshaven and the PVC was eye opening and we could understand the capabilities of Manitowoc and its determination to build first-class machines,” said Essam Dabash. “Efficiency is essential to our own operations so we wanted to buy cranes that have excellent customer support and to which our operators will easily adapt. With these new Grove cranes we are confident on both these points.”

Suez Shipyard Company will use the GMK5130-2 around its floating dock for general maintenance duties. The 130t capacity crane is a successor to the popular GMK5130-1 and is powered by an eight-cylinder, turbo-charged Mercedes-Benz OM 502 LA engine. It also has an improved cab over its predecessor that includes an ability to hydraulically tilt up to 20 degrees. The Twin-Lock boom extends from 12.9m to 60m in six sections and its maximum tip height is 92m when working with jib extensions, according to Manitowoc’s statement.

The shipbuilder will use the GMK4080-1 to support general maintenance duties and lifting tasks around the yard’s various workshops, the statement added. The 80t capacity, four-axle all-terrain crane features a 290kW Mercedes engine and is equipped with a 51m, six-section Twin-Lock boom that can be extended to 82m through the addition of jib sections.

Waleed Raouf, Manitowoc’s regional sales manager for mobile and crawler cranes, who delivered the first Grove cranes to the Egyptian company, said: “Suez Shipyard Company is a world-class operation, so we are very proud to supply the first Grove cranes to the company. We hope these are the first of many, and I’m sure these two additions will bring tremendous efficiency to its maintenance operations and day-to-day activities.”

Located at the southern mouth of the Suez Canal in Egypt, Suez Shipyard Company was established in 1862 and specialises in shipbuilding and repair. The company has built a wide range of ships, including bulk and general cargo vessels, as well as LPG carriers and offshore rigs.