Liferaft Service Station News

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has issued a safety bulletin following the engine room flooding and foundering of the stern trawler Piedras (FD 528) which led to the failure of a liferaft to inflate. A second liferaft was successfully launched, and the crew were rescued.Both liferafts exhibited deficiencies that raised servicing and certification concerns and are likely to have contributed to the failure, says MAIB. The port liferaft was never recovered, but inspection of the starboard liferaft found that it had not been correctly serviced since manufacture in March 2007…

U.K.-based safety and survival solutions provider Survitec said it has completed its acquisition of Blue Anchor Fire & Safety, a Scottish provider of survival solutions to the fisheries, maritime and offshore energy industries.The investment, part of Survitec’s expansion strategy, follows the acquisition in May of Norway’s Hansen Protection, a provider of personal protective equipment.Baba Devani, Chief Executive Officer, Marine, Survitec, said, “We are delighted to announce this acquisition…

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) has opened a new liferaft service station in Suez, Egypt, which will service vessels transiting the Suez Canal and Egypt’s main ports. Russell Dinwoodie; General Manager WSS Egypt said: “With over 17,000 vessel transits per year in the Suez Canal, this new Liferaft Service Station is an important addition to our global network. Its’ strategic location will benefit ship operators by allowing them to utilze our full range of liferaft services whilst waiting to transit the Canal…

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) annonced plans to expand in South America to serve the growing cruise and offshore sectors. Prior to this month’s Cruise Shipping Miami, Area Director Henrique Schlaepfer said: “South America continues to be an area of concentrated investment for WSS. Over the last year we have put in place a new management team with responsibility for almost 200 employees, operating in key positions in Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Argentina”. In sharp contrast to its presence within the region less than four years ago…

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) has reported  consistent growth and increased market awareness over the last few years for its world-leading portfolio of  Marine Products in New Zealand, according to Nigel Smith, WSS General Manager for New Zealand and Pacific Islands. Recently relocated from central city offices to a new warehouse complex, WSS New Zealand is now able to concentrate on delivering a stronger mix of marine products, as well as new initiatives such as the innovative LRE (Liferaft Exchange Program).

In Wilhelmsen Ships Service’s continued expansion of its liferaft service station network, the company has opened a new liferaft service station in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. “With the Kaohsiung Service Station we will be able to exchange liferafts in all ports in Taiwan, which means we can serve our customers even better,” comments Harald Lundestad, General Manager for Wilhelmsen Ships Service in Taiwan. As with all the company’s global liferaft service stations Wilhelmsen Ships Service will be supplying its own Unitor branded liferaft range to customers…

Wilhelmsen Ships Service is pleased to announce that their Liferaft and Marin-Ark service station in Miami, Florida is now fully operational. It is a stand-alone station conveniently situated between the port of Miami and Port Everglades in South Florida, approximately 4 kilometers from the current Wilhelmsen Ships Service premises in Miami. The station is certified to service all Unitor branded rafts as well as Marin-Ark MES Systems, which are among the largest rafts in the world, with a life-saving capacity of 430 persons per evacuation system.