VDR

VDR MARINE EQUIPMENT

MARITIME MARVELS OF HEAVY LIFTING

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VDR MARINE EQUIPMENT

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I PROFILE

At Dubai’s VDR Marine Equipment, decades of revered and highly specialised Dutch maritime expertise are applied to the manufacture, repair and refurbishment of marine cranes, winches and assorted mechanical deck equipment. VDR Marine Equipment fills a crucial role in the Middle East’s fast-moving offshore oil and gas industry. Managing Director Fred van Dort and Business Development Executive Ferdi van Dort chatted with Richard Hagan about the company’s impressive service record.

or the last fourteen years, VDR Marine

F

in 2015 by current Managing Director Fred

Equipment has provided specialised

van Dort, as a service provider for cranes

maritime crane manufacturing and

and winches – both onshore and offshore

repair services to customers around the

– as well as providing electrical and hydraulic

Middle East.

repairs for deck equipment.

The company engineers, manufactures and maintains lifting and pulling equipment and other material handling products for a wide variety of marine, offshore and industrial applications, providing a robust toolbox of solutions to support its customers’ needs.

An uplifting history VDR Marine Equipment was established in 2019 as a result of a merger between VDR and Jebsen & Jessen Offshore (one of the world’s largest marine equipment OEMs, formerly known as Marine Equipment).

VDR was established several years earlier

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VDR MARINE EQUIPMENT

I PROFILE

Following the merger, Mr van Dort was

facilities include a vast array of machinery

later joined by relative Ferdi van Dort as

and other capabilities that allow it to

Business Development Executive.

manufacture cranes and handle its

Today, VDR Marine Equipment employs

servicing commitments.

fifteen staff members across two facilities

VDR Marine Equipment’s Programmable

– one in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai. Its

Logic Computer (PLC) testing equipment is a particular highlight of its capabilities.

“We have invested a lot of time and money into our PLC programming and testing equipment,” Managing Director Fred van Dort revealed. “That makes us unique because there are only a handful of companies in the world who are able to program cranes and the complicated systems that run them.”

In 2022, VDR Marine Equipment carried out 200 projects worldwide – both new builds and services and repairs – a figure that the company is especially proud of given its relatively small staff footprint.

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European maritime expertise

is in its bespoke load monitoring systems.

With a career spanning over two decades,

The company’s systems – known as Load

spent working in some of the world’s largest

Monitoring Indication (LMI) – are industry-

dredging companies, Fred van Dort can now

leading for their accuracy and robustness.

leverage his considerable work experience

“We have designed the hardware

and industry expertise in developing solu-

and the software ourselves,” explained

tions for VDR Marine Equipment’s customers.

Business Development Executive Ferdi

He explained the value of this experience

Van Dort. “The LMI systems that we build

for the company’s Middle Eastern market:

encompass the whole crane and allow

“European maritime knowledge and quality

you to record everything that happens

– especially that of marine equipment and

to that piece of equipment, in terms of the

services – is widely regarded across the

load exerted on it. Once you reach 90 per

region. That creates an opportunity for us

cent of the load capacity, an alarm sounds

to compete on a very strong basis with

and the machine automatically switches

local companies.”

to reduced power or speed.”

One of the areas in which VDR Marine Equipment’s expertise is on full display

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VDR MARINE EQUIPMENT

I PROFILE

VDR Marine Equipment has an LMI system

While the company’s new-build crane

for winches as well – including mooring and

manufacturing programmes are important,

towing winches. “We are developing an

its repairs and maintenance department is

audible slip detection that generates a

just as critical to VDR Marine Equipment’s

warning when a slip is detected,” said Fred

success, as Fred van Dort highlighted:

van Dort. “There’s also a recording function

“Refurbishment of cranes and winches is

for tension and length so that if a fault

one of our core businesses. We upgrade

occurs, you can go back and check what

the equipment to bring it up to date with

happened and where the fault occurred.

current rules and regulations, complete

“This technology is particularly impor-

with LMI systems and new controls.”

tant when our customers are working on big wind turbines, or towing a large barge,

Into the deep

for example. If something goes wrong,

A recent project encompasses all of the

the fault must be recorded so that the

skills, expertise and capabilities of VDR

problem can be resolved.”

Marine Equipment and its teams.

The company built and delivered a crane capable of working to a staggering water

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depth of 3,000 metres. The crane, which has a load capacity of 25 tonnes, was

Fred van Dort explained. “To achieve this,

installed on a diving support vessel and

in 2024 we’re planning to increase our

includes active heave compensation.

production capacity and manpower by

The vessel was built in the United Arab

200 per cent. This will include additional

Emirates and travelled to Norway for fitting

staff training and additional testing tools.”

out, before deploying to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,

In the meantime, VDR Marine Equipment has

where it works in the oil and gas industry. The

become a member of the Lifting Equipment

vessel is multi-mission capable, however,

Engineers Association (LEEA), a crucial step

and can be deployed for any number of

on its growth path.

other roles including cable laying, seismic surveys and various other tasks.

Concluding, Fred van Dort reflected on his love for the work that the company

The successful delivery and commis-

does. “Building and working on cranes is

sioning of that crane propelled VDR Marine

my hobby,” he said, laughing. “It makes me

Equipment into exploring plans to increase

very happy to be able to do this job; it’s my

its capacity for building more cranes of

hobby – my lifestyle. When people ask me

that size – and larger. “We want to build

when I plan to retire, my answer is that it

100-tonne cranes for 3,000-metre water

will be when I can no longer climb into

depths, with active heave compensation,”

a crane. Until then, I’m not retiring!”

n

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