Norwegian maritime group TTS has signed a contract with ship management firm Höegh Fleet Services to provide maintenance for 29 vessels. The deal is believed to be the biggest ever service contract for pure car/truck carrier (PCTC) RoRo equipment.
The contract was signed in Oslo in late September 2007 by Höegh vice-president of purchasing Kristin Haugen and Dan Magnusson, TTS Ships Equipment’s service manager, and comes into effect January 1 2008.
The contract, agreed by TTS’ Gothenburg office, provides for an extended maintenance agreement for the ships, and follows TTS’ successful design and supply of cargo access equipment for a series of PCTCs built for Höegh by Hyundai Heavy Industry, Gdynia Shipyard, Daewoo and Uljanic. Other ships are currently on order from Vinashin in Vietnam.
The contract covers an extensive maintenance programme including expertise inspections, operational tests, hydraulic condition tests, steel structure survey, service and spare part stock agreement. The contract also includes deck machinery, ideal for TTS, which boasts one of the world-leading deck machinery maker, TTS Kocks in Bremen, Germany. TTS Kocks also has factories in Korea and China.
TTS has become the world’s leading supplier of equipment for car carriers with customers including Wallenius Lines of Sweden, Norwegian firms Wilhelmsen, Leif Höegh, Liberty Marine of the USA, Eukor of Korea, Danish operator AP Møller and Israeli firm Ray Shipping. Over 150 car carriers are currently fitted with TTS cargo access equipment, with more orders expected in the future.
TTS’ Dan Magnusson added: “While other suppliers have focused on fancy service concepts with a massive service network, with our equipment maintenance is minimised, because all control systems have built-in redundancy. This deal with Höegh is exciting not only because of its size, but because is covers vessels equipped with other suppliers’ equipment. This is a testament to our status as a world leading service supplier in this field.”
Magnusson went on: “Höegh chose TTS because we listened closely to its requirements and structured a contract that closely met those needs. Quality and reliability are vital to Höegh’s operation: these are core TTS values.”
TTS has built up a strategically-located network of service stations around the world, and has recently opened its own hub for car carriers in Bremerhaven, Germany.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
About TTS
The TTS Marine group is supplier of systems and equipment for ships, ports and offshore activities. TTS Ships Equipment, part of the TTS Dry Cargo Division, designs and supplies cargo access equipment to the world’s fleet of dry cargo vessels, car carriers, roro/ropax vessels, mega yachts and cruise vessels.
The division comprises seven business units, employing approximately 200 people, with locations in Gothenburg (Sweden); Bremen (Germany); Bergen (Norway); Shanghai (China); Miami (USA); Genoa (Italy); and Haiphong (Vietnam).
Gothenburg, 5 November 2007
For more details, contact:
Dan Magnusson
Service and After Sales Manager
TTS Ships Equipment AB
Tel: +46 31 725 79 40
E-mail: info@tts-se.se