Schat-Harding Launches Miami Service Center

Schat-Harding has opened a new service and sales center in Miami. Focussed initially on improving service to the cruise industry, it will also coordinate sales and service for all ships using Florida's ports. George Suarez, a cruise industry veteran, is leading the new team, which is co-located with Unitor Ships Services. "We have sixty percent of the market share of lifeboats and davits for cruise ships," says Trygve Kjerpeseth, manager of the service department of Schat-Harding. "Miami and the Florida ports are at the core of the global cruise industry, so we need a team there to support our clients." The Miami facility will be developed to include a technical team to provide quick response to service needs, a spare parts depot and a sales coordination center. "We have a facility in the USA, in Louisiana," explains Kjerpeseth. "But our strategic focus now is to be a lifetime partner to our clients. We are developing more and more service contracts with cruise operators. That provides them with the maintenance, training and support they need to ensure their lifesaving equipment is always ready, either to meet an actual emergency, or the demands of increasingly frequent and stringent port state controls. So having people on the spot here in Miami is vital to cutting response times and being close to users of Schat-Harding boats and davits."