Ship-to-ship
As Trelleborg redeveloped its fenders to meet Teekay’s demanding requirements, the relationship between the two grew closer, so that Trelleborg became the primary supplier of fenders to Teekay in 2015, recalls Richard Hepworth, President within Trelleborg Offshore & Construction. The partnership was working so well that by early 2017 the two decided to jointly market Trelleborg-made fenders under a new halo brand of premium pneumatic fenders.
“Teekay’s operational expertise, experience and worldwide logistical capabilities for storing and handling of fenders in their global network of supply bases, combined with Trelleborg’s manufacturing experience, is a perfect match,” says Ozlem Kir, Business Development Manager at Teekay Marine Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Teekay Tankers, one of the world’s largest conventional tanker owners.
Working together allows the partners to provide unprecedented levels of service and product availability for the fender market. “A priority for a ship owner is the safety and security of their assets,” Kir says. “When two ships come together for an sts operation, you want the best fenders to protect your assets. Remember, these ships can be up to 330 meters long and weigh 320,000 metric tons.”
Hepworth explains, “These fenders need to be carefully designed to facilitate the berthing of two ships together. They also need to be extremely durable under the arduous operating conditions they see.”
To enhance the level of service offered, halo Fenders can be either purchased or rented. Rentals can be long- or short-term, and a buy-back option also is available. These options are designed to offer customers maximum flexibility when it comes to financing.
“Trelleborg and Teekay see its new halo Fenders partnership driving increased demand, and Trelleborg is currently in the process of expanding its production capacity at the plant in China to cope with the forecast growth,” Hepworth says.
HALO pneumatic fenders
HALO premium pneumatic fenders are fully compliant with the ISO 17357-1:2014 standard. They are made with an abrasion-resistant outer rubber layer that protects the inner rubber and tire-cord layers from external damage.
The fenders are usually supplied in sets of four and are typically 3.3 meters in diameter by 6.5 meters long for oil transfers. For LNG applications, increased levels of safety mean that four “jumbo” fenders, 4.5 meters in diameter by 9 meters long, are used.
For more information, please go to:
www.trelleborg.com/en/marine-and-infrastructure
This is an article has been reproduced from Trelleborg's T-Time magazine. To download the latest edition, go to: www.trelleborg.com/t-time
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