Rapp Marine Group recently acquired Hydra Pro Seattle, a crane manufacturing firm. Possessing both American Petroleum Institute (API) Spec 2C and ISO 9001: 2008 certifications, Rapp Hydra Pro is a rarity in the crane community. Hydra Pro also manufactures A-Frames, cylinders and other associated machinery. Hydra Pro’s clientele includes customers the offshore oil industry, the U.S. military, and various other marine subsectors, including ROV-handling. Kurt Manchester is the new Hydra Pro President; he has over 25 years of manufacturing experience.
Johann Sigurjonsson, President of Rapp Hydema U.S., is impressed by the operation’s functionality and said that he is planning to replicate some of these practices at the original 4433 27th Avenue facility. Closely involved in all aspects of the acquisition process, Sigurjonsson called Hydra Pro “a most important addition to the Rapp family” which includes existing facilities in Dutch Harbor, AK, Seattle, WA (two sites: the traditional one along 27th Avenue West, and a new warehouse being outfitted for more manufacturing at 24th Avenue West), and the Houston sales office. Yet these existing Rapp U.S. facilities are chiefly focused on Rapp’s long-standing winch business.
Sigurjonsson said that the Hydra Pro acquisition “sharply increases our U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities” at a time when local manufacture has become very attractive. “Rapp U.S. has long had a certain amount of crane repair and rebuild work; but this new operation gives us the opportunity to present the field with a complete deck machinery package, as opposed to just a partial approach.”