Left to right: John Stewart, senior vice president, Manitowoc Cranes, Greater Asia Pacific; Encik Nor Badli Mohamad Alias, managing director and chief financial officer of THHE; Chang Bar Kuei, managing director of UES Group of Companies.
TH Heavy Engineering Berhad, one of the major Malaysian offshore fabricators, purchased two Manitowoc 16000 cranes in April. The company is using the cranes for building offshore oil platforms, helping with fabrication and out-load activities for legs, piles, decks, panels and other components that make up the platforms.
The two Manitowoc 16000s are based at THHE’s Pulau Indah Fabrication Yard in Salangor, Malaysia. The rigs and infrastructure they help build will be delivered to major oil companies for use in offshore exploration activities.
Managing director and chief executive officer of THHE, Encik Nor Badli Mohd Alias, explained that the 16000s were purchased to enhance THHE’s capabilities as a major fabricator of offshore modules and to establish the company as a significant player in the oil and gas industry, both locally and regionally.
“We are proud to own such high-quality cranes,” Alias said. “The 16000s will put us on both the Malaysian and world map, as we are now able to perform a wider range of heavy-lift projects efficiently. Manitowoc cranes are reliable, durable and versatile and using them, we have calculated, will help us cut RM1,500,000 ($497,675) annually from our operating costs – a nice boost to our bottom line.”
Both of the Manitowoc 16000s offer a 96 m (315 ft) boom and impressive 400 t (440 USt) capacity, making these cranes excellent to increase THHE’s capabilities. They also offer better lift flexibility with a 105.6 m (346.5 ft) fixed jib and a 138 m (453 ft) luffing jib.
The cranes were purchased through UES Group of Companies, a Malaysian conglomerate that specializes in heavy equipment rental and supply.
Managing director of UES, Chang Bar Kuei, said that these cranes were excellent choices for THHE.
“THHE will be well served with the two Manitowoc 16000s,” Kuei said. “Manitowoc is known for its quality and durability. Its cranes are cutting edge and well worth the investment.”
Alias pointed to Manitowoc’s EPIC® system as one of the reasons the company’s cranes stand out. EPIC uses CAN-bus technology to offer smooth and precise control. With EPIC, the cranes can boom, hoist and swing at the same time – something that most other crawler cranes can’t offer.
“Manitowoc cranes are the leading brand in the market. No other cranes can match them,” Alias said. “The cranes offer important features that, as managing director and CEO, will help me sleep well at night because I know that our lifting operations are handled with reliability and productivity in mind.”
The 16000s, along with a Grove RT650E the company purchased earlier this year, were given the Heaven names Al Firdaus, Al Addeen and An Na’im, which mean strength, success and humility in Islam.
UES Group of Companies, headquartered in Malaysia, specializes in trading used and new equipment, maintenance and offshore/onshore load testing, equipment rental and heavy lifting/haulage for the marine, oil, gas and construction industries in Malaysia and throughout Asia. They have been in operation since 2000 and employs 10 experienced sales and service people.
THHE has operated in the Malaysian oil and gas industry since 2002. The company focuses on the heavy engineering segment. It also specializes in the construction and maintenance of onshore plants, crane manufacturing and servicing, marine operations and support services.