Page 12: of Marine News Magazine (October 2023)

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Insights

How is the company investing to ensure future success? estly put, we sense that in this particular product area,

I usually tell people, when they ask, that “We’re an en- Markey has no peer in the quality and reliability of our gineering ? rm that happens to build winches.” Our fo- bow hawser winches, for which reason we have so many cus is engineered solutions that meet the real-time needs orders of scale.

of the crew on the front lines—those operators actually Looking ahead, tug ? eet replenishment, new port ter- running the boats, we listen carefully to them, and the minal expansions, and new vessels associated with offshore majority of improvements we’ve made in the last couple wind and the uptick in traditional oil and gas all appear to decades are a direct result of being immersed in this com- mark important developments.

munity. We will therefore continue to invest in those re- sources that will keep us at the forefront, in the minds of Do you see appetite in the market for new products and the operators, on board. innovation? If so, what are customers asking for?

Speci? c to hawser winches, we very recently responded

How is business today? What types of projects is Mar- to requests for a lighter product that had a modi? ed foot- key working on? And looking ahead, where do you see print, to satisfy a new tug design with little distance be- greatest areas of opportunity? tween the forward staple and the winch on the bow. The

The changes in ownership structure have created op- result was our new Agile Concept—a winch developed for portunity for growth. Among several products of note, four key customers of ours, featuring a 16.4% reduction in our electric and hydraulic bow hawser winches—for har- overall weight, a slimming-down of the footprint dimen- bor-assist and escort—seem to be particularly in demand, sion, inclusion of the gearbox integrally with the winch, especially for customers needing the safest and most reli- and other improvements. This new Agile Concept design able means of handling large tankers, as those associated is the latest improvement to our Class III hawser winch with new LNG plants now under construction. Immod- line, and our customers have responded favorably.

Markey Mooring winches aboard a Crowley vessel. A Markey CAST-6 Oceanographic Winch.

12 | MN October 2023