to the business world

The global spread of coronavirus brought unprecedented disruption to the business world

As the economy continues to reel from the effects of the pandemic, companies are under more pressure than ever. Lifting Africa spoke to Stephanus Schoonbee, General Manager at AMS Lifting & Towing Systems (AMS LTS) to find out more about their plans going forward.

AMS LTS commenced business in July 2014 as a division of African Maritime Services Namibia (AMS NAM) slowly building up a reputation as a reliable lifting service provider. In 2018 the company separated from AMS NAM and registered as AMS Lifting & Towing Systems (Pty) Ltd. According to Schoonbee, who owns 10% of the company, the other 90% is still owned by AMS NAM with Robert Whitehead serving as the Director of both companies. “We are proudly a 100% Namibian registered company with 100% Namibian shareholding,” says Schoonbee. Focusing on the supply of lifting and towing equipment and providing a range of specialised services to the oil and gas and general marine industries in particular it is a business that has gone from strength to strength. Few, however, could have predicted the outbreak of a global pandemic and the subsequent quarantine policies that were instituted all over the world. “Covid had a very big impact on businesses, also in the lifting environment,” says Schoonbee. “It stalled many projects while in some cases, it brought projects to a complete halt. Especially our marine customers were heavily impacted by the pandemic.” Unprecedented and completely unexpected it was not always easy dealing with the situation. As lockdowns were instituted around the world business travel ended and remote working became the norm. “Covid had a significant adverse impact on our business,” says Schoonbee. “It was not easy and we had to find ways of dealing with it. Fortunately, we quickly learned how to make the best of a bad situation.” The AMS LTS team were, however, determined that the virus and its ongoing effects were not going to stop them

from going about their business. Finding ways around the various challenges became the norm. “With all the negative that covid delivered, it taught us a lot about ourselves and our abilities to adapt and how important it is to work as a team,” says Schoonbee. He emphasises teamwork saying this is part of the company’s ongoing success. “It is an approach that allows our business to be more efficient, but also it builds morale.”

The new normal

Adapting to a post-Covid environment has had its challenges, says Schoonbee, but the business has found its feet in this new operating environment. AMS LTS recently completed a major project with a Malaysian offshore drill company. “This is our third project in a row since 2019 with this company and we are very proud of this contract. It speaks to their trust in our workmanship, our reliability and the high-quality service we provide.” The scope of the work done for the drilling company includes magnetic rope test (MRT) inspections, lifting gears inspections, load testing of various cranes and structures, and non-destructive testing (NDT) inspections as well as managing the sea fastening project. Furthermore, the company is currently in the process of achieving DNV 2.7-1 and 2.7-3 certifications. DNV sets standards for ships and offshore structures. They comprise safety, reliability and environmental requirements that vessels and other offshore mobile structures in international waters must comply with. According to Schoonbee, another important focus for the company in the past few years has been training. This year five employees will undergo training with the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA). “Training is imperative in our business, not only to meet the increasing technical demands of the marine sector but to ensure we are at the top of our game at all times. In the lifting business there is no room for error and ensuring our team has the correct skills to meet any job requirement is of critical importance. Safety is always a top priority and ongoing training not only ensures technical ability but also speaks to safety.” Asked about the ongoing impact of Covid- 19, Schoonbee says he is cautiously optimistic. “We expect this situation to slowly improve as international companies start allowing their staff to travel again.” He says the operating environment still has its fair share of challenges to deal with. “We currently are experiencing extensive logistical problems with long lead times and unreliable shipping schedules. This does have an impact on projects and can cause delays. Also, the shortages and costs of steel, synthetic materials and freight rates are making the costing of imported products challenging.” The outbreak of war in Europe involving Russia and Ukraine has not helped the situation much. “With the huge energy cost increases for our European suppliers and the current shortage of raw material, long lead times as well as the war in Ukraine, it is very difficult to predict the short to medium-term outlook,” he says.

Looking forward

Thanks to the various close relationships that AMS LTS has with some of the world’s leading international brands such as Bridon International and The Crosby Group, the company believes it has a leading edge. “More so, our team is well trained and passionate about service, quality and integrity ensuring the company’s reputation as a trusted supplier to our domestic and international customer base continues.”

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COVER STORY

AMS Lifting & Towing Systems (PTY) LTD,

+26 46 4220 776, stephanus@amsmarine.com.na, www.africanmaritime.co.za