Trelleborg rides the wave
Full order books and strong demand are being fuelled by the boost in global shipping says Trelleborg Fenders, and sales are growing in untapped markets such as the Middle East and Japan, and are in fact increasing more than in the traditional Trelleborg strongholds. Lately, Trelleborg has assisted Malayan Flour Mills in upgrading its berth in Lumut in Malaysia.
Through the acquisition of Fentek Marine Systems and Seaward, Trelleborg “is the world’s largest fender manufacturer – ahead of Japanese giants like Bridgestone and Sumitomo, ” says Mike Harrison, director of sales & marketing at Fentek.
The company operates in three market sectors:
The technical, high-end
market, with fender systems for large ships ranging from oil tankers and bulk carriers to containers ships and ferries.
Standard products with low technical content, which are used in fishing ports, canals and similar applications.
Tugboat fenders, which account for a small percentage of sales, but represent a profitable market that Fentek dominates in many parts of the world.
Trelleborg has assisted Malayan Flour Mills in upgrading their Lumut berth, finding a solution suitable for Handymax vessels up to 34,000 deadweight tonnes.
Trelleborg’s solution involved Super Cone fender systems, because an important requirement was to increase the energy absorption capacity of the fenders to cope with the larger vessels, while minimising reaction forces to avoid overloading the existing structure. “Trelleborg achieved this with an SCN1050 fender – not only providing ample energy for future needs but at the same time reducing loads by 30 percent, ” Harrison says.
Related Articles
EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT