Food Handling Areas News

Where many see challenges, Vilhelm Roberts, CEO and President of ALMACO Group sees opportunity, as his company has carved a niche in providing turnkey accommodation spaces and food handling areas serving the global maritime and offshore markets. He discusses the company’s strategy and future with Maritime Reporter. “We were born global,” said Roberts. The mother company is in Finland, and he leads the company from the company’s office in Florida along with his CFO who is in the office in France.

German shipyard Meyer Werft has awarded ALMACO Group the newbuilding contract for provision stores and fast thawing chambers for the next ship generation of AIDA Cruises, which are expected to be delivered end of 2018 and 2021. ALMACO’s scope of work involves a total of 2,600 square meters of provision stores, as well as nine fast thawing chambers (FTC). The FTC is an ALMACO-engineered system that supports a much faster thawing period on less thawing surface, providing a thawing capacity of 750 kg for each room for 12 hours, therefore allowing for 6,750 kg in thawing capacity per 24 hours. ALMACO has delivered FTCs in previous AIDA Cruises newbuilds, AIDAprima and AIDAperla.

ALMACO Group informs it has been awarded the design, material supply and supervision contract from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. In March 2014, KHI contracted ALMACO Group to deliver the design, material supply and supervision for the catering areas, inclusive galley, provision stores, refrigeration machinery and mess rooms, located on the hull of the first drillship, Ondina. The expected delivery date for this work is end of 2015. Earlier this year, ALMACO received the repeat order for the second drill unit, Pituba, with the expected delivery of mid of 2016. Kawasaki’s Sakaide Shipyard is building the hull parts of these units, which will later be transported to Enseada’s site in Brazil for installation of other segments, such as the topside equipment.

ALMACO Group has received multi-site certifications for ISO 14001:2004, for implementation of Environmental Management Systems (EMS), and OHSAS 18001:2007, for developing Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) management systems, in compliance with the international standards. The certifications cover ALMACO’s products and services comprising engineering, procurement, construction, total project management, maintenance and on site installations for accommodation and food handling areas in living quarters, offshore installations and floating accommodation units.

ALMACO was awarded a multi-million euro contract to modernize accommodation and food handling areas onboard Mein Schiff 2, the ship that TUI Cruises is adding to its fleet in the spring 2011. TUI Cruises is a joint venture cruise line comprised of TUI AG and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ALMACO will modernize 900 cabins, build ten new passenger cabins, modernize twenty-five food handling areas and build a new fine dining galley. The project will take place during the months of March and April in 2011. In 2009, ALMACO delivered similar scope to TUI Cruises onboard Mein Schiff 1. After the christening in May 2011, the extensively modernized Mein Schiff 2 will sail into her first season in the Nordic region and in the Baltic.

Almaco was contracted to deliver a complete turnkey project for cabins, corridors, galley, provision stores and refrigeration machinery for the latest newbuilding ferry vessel being built at Singapore Technologies Marine's shipyard for Louis Dreyfus Armateurs' subsidiary LD Lines. The contract was signed in November 2008 and the project is scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2010. Almaco’s Accommodation Systems division will deliver a full turnkey for 226 Cabins and Corridors on both passenger and crew decks. The scope of supply includes design, supply of material, assembly, installation onboard and all background works such as ducting, piping, insulation, electrical. The design and standards of the cabins are of higher quality than those offered in earlier vessels.