Indian shipyard orders 23 Haulotte big booms

An Indian shipyard is to take delivery of 23 new Haulotte telescopic booms in what is thought to be one of the largest ever powered access orders in the country.

ABG Shipyard Ltd, the largest privately owned shipyard in India, headquartered in Mumbai, has ordered 23 Haulotte booms comprising a mix of 21 m (H 21 TX), 25 m (H 25 TPX) and 43 m (H 43 TPX) telescopic models. The machines, sold by Haulotte's Indian dealer Gemini Power Hydraulics, will be used at two shipyards in Gujerat state, at Hazira and Dahej.

Rajiv Sethi, founder and chairman of Gemini, said; "It's the largest single boom order for India." The value is around US$2 million.

Prashant Bhaskaran, Gemini's AWP product manager, said the 23-boom order was the first phase of the project, with the potential for further orders in a second phase.

He told AI that the ship builder had previously used scaffolding and old, rented booms for the work; "They were having a lot of downtime and unreliability with the old machines."

Gemini has hired four service technicians - recently trained at Haulotte's Singapore facility - who will provide service and support for the ABG contract, as well as other Gemini sold machines.

"These four technicians will be the spine of the support for this contract. Gujerat will become a hub for after sales service", said Mr Bhaskaran.

The Haulotte booms are being shipped to India for pre-commissioning in October; "By November all the machines will be in and running. They have a huge order book for ships that they are building for overseas clients", said Mr Bhaskaran.

Mr Sethi and Mr Bhaskaran were speaking to AI at the APEX show in Maastricht where, among other things, they were looking for potential partners for truck mounted aerial platforms in the 20 to 22 m working height range, supplied in kit form for mounting in India.

"The market is ready for high quality truck mounts", said Mr Sethi, "The Indian market is focused on economical equipment. Self-propelled machines are expensive - you have to transport them. I think there will be a bigger market for truck mounted machines."