Obituary: Benny Sarens

ICST regrets to report the death of Benny Sarens at the age of 65. Benny died unexpectedly on 30 December 2017.

Benny Sarens started working at Sarens, now a leading international specialist in heavy lifting and engineered transport, in 1972. In the intervening years he built up the technical solutions department of the Belgium-based family-owned business. Benny was instrumental in developing a world class technical team of experienced problem solvers, capable of designing and executing the most challenging engineered lifting projects. His lifetime achievement, in addition to the design of alternative lifting systems, was his leading involvement in pushing the development of the family of Sarens cranes known as “Big Benny” (the SGC 120) and Big Benny XL which is the recently-launched SGC 140.

As a pioneer in the crane and heavy lifting world, Benny Sarens leaves behind a visionary engineering legacy and knowledge from which engineers globally have drawn for years and are likely to continue to do so. Notable recent projects where he was involved include: Koniambo in Australia; Vale in Brazil; Champlain in Canada; and TCO in Kazakhstan.

He is survived by his spouse and their six grown children. Three of the children work in the family business: Carl Sarens is director of technical solutions, projects and engineering; Steven Sarens, technical solutions manager; and Matthias Sarens, who is a project engineer. Benny Sarens was also grandfather to 18 grandchildren.