Offshore opportunities CRIST

OFFSHORE OPPORTUNITIES

CRIST SA of Poland was established in 1990, initially with just two people, but since 2010 it has been a steadily growing joint stock business venture. Shipbuilding, offshore constructions, steel structures, marine and civil engineering – these are the fields of the company’s speciality. It is the only shipyard in Europe to have constructed already three units for the installation and servicing of off-shore wind farms. Piotr Sadowski writes for Industry Europe.

Photo: Piotr Wittman

Twenty years after it was founded, CRIST became a joint stock company, so 2010 was certainly a very important year for the business. Five years earlier, in 1995, it signed its first independent contract for six tugs for the Dutch company Damen; three years later, it built a fully-equipped trawler for an Icelandic client.

“A new chapter in the company’s history was the purchase of the yard of the former Gdynia Shipyard in 2009,” recalls Ewa Kruchelska, president of CRIST. “In 2009–2010 three new locks were added to the expanding Bremerhaven port, which marked the first successful entry of CRIST into the hydro-technical market.”

Initially the activities of CRIST Shipyard were focused on ship building and repairs, steel constructions, fishing vessels and ro-ro type vessel hulls. The company then expanded into offshore constructions, specialist coastal constructions and vessels for the extraction of marine resources. The first contract for a ship used for installing wind farms (THOR jack-up type platform) was signed in 2009. “In 2009 we bought the first plot of the former Gdynia Shipyard, followed by the second one in 2010, including a dry dock, which significantly increased our output capabilities,” says Ms Kruchelska. “In 2013 we moved our headquarters from Gdańsk to Gdynia.”

Robust market position

The company enjoys a very stable situation with an impressive portfolio of orders, which are always completed on time thanks to massive production resources. These include a dry dock (379 metres long, 70 metres wide and 8 metres deep), designed for the final assembly of vessels, as well as a gantry crane – one of the largest on the coast of the Baltic Sea (1000 tonnes lift and 153 metres span). CRIST’s strength also lies in its approach to customers. “We work not only to meet their expectations, but go beyond them, always offering the most advanced technologies and tailored solutions,” explains Ms Kruchelska. “As a result, CRIST Shipyard has become a European leader, with over 300 completed projects, 1500 staff and engineers, specialist production lines, the latest technologies, as well as a capacity for processing up to 50,000 tonnes of steel every year.”

All of the vessels produced by CRIST are completed on a turn-key basis and this is what differentiates the shipyard from its competitors. Most recently, it has built many

HYDROMEGA

HYDROMEGA is a company, which since 1988 has been designing and manufacturing the advanced solutions in the field of power hydraulics and drives. From the very beginning, it is bound up with the maritime and off-shore industries through cooperation with a number of shipyards in Poland and abroad.

The Hydromega’s strength is its innovative approach expressed in dozens of prototype devices produced each year.

The company has also strong HPUs production department and service division.

Based on its experience in the construction of hydraulic power packs Hydromega systematically implements new features of hydraulic power packs for the production. Currently, the company’s offer includes a wide range of oil tanks, oil level indicators, return and breathing filters, inspection covers and other items. An interesting novelty are marine oil level indicators with type approval for use on ships.

Hydromega also has the extensive experience in servicing of hydraulic power systems and construction of new systems/ pipelines. Thanks to this experience Hydromega has developed technology of high-efficient hydraulic pipelines flushing, which significantly reduces the flushing time while increasing the purity parameters. The HAMER technology has been used for more than 10 years in the majority of Polish shipyards and shows very good results. The company’s experience in the field of clean hydraulic systems also led to the creation of oil filtration equipment, such as, for example, handy oil transportation pumps with high efficiency, which are basic equipment of maintenance services and manufacturers of hydraulic power systems.

jack-up type vessels as well as vessels for transporting feed stuffs. An interesting recent construction has been a Multi-Lay Vessel type ship, a multi-task ship used for installing pipelines on the bottom of seas and oceans, called Ceona Amazon. “In order to be able to meet new challenges and offer services at the highest possible level, we invest significantly in our equipment,” says CRIST’s president. “For example, we are building a technological line for the production of thick-walled pipes, with an outside diameter up to 7 metres and maximum wall thickness of 120–150 millimetres, depending on the type of steel. These are used for the production of wind towers or ‘legs’ for jack-ups, as well as other offshore subsea type constructions. We are also in the process of building a warehouse for equipment devices used in vessels built by the company. In 2014 we have prepared a specialist embankment for building modules for oil rigs weighing up to 10,000 tonnes.” Strong export activities

As Ms Kruchelska points out, what promotes CRIST best are its products. The company constantly ensures the highest quality and introduces ISO procedures. In 2014 it has secured the ISO 9001:2008 certificate, the quality management system for designing, building and equipping ships. CRIST operates in a very specialist industry, where standard forms of promotion are not applicable. Instead, the company regularly takes part in international trade conventions, in Hamburg, Rotterdam, Baltexpo in Gdańsk and in Oslo. As a result, almost all of the company’s production reaches customers abroad, in the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Iceland. Polish clients generate around 2–3 per cent of the overall income.

“We deliver the best solutions using the best construction materials,” says Ms Kruchelska. “Over the years we have established the best possible contacts and cooperate with reliable suppliers. It is difficult to mention all of them, but certainly I would like to note the excellent cooperation with the Gdańsk-based design studio StoGda, as well as the company FAST SA. Together with these suppliers we have completed numerous projects and our cooperation has always been very successful.”

Outlook for the future

The key goal for CRIST is to become a stock market listed company, which is expected to happen in the next five years. The ongoing development of the business is based on organic growth, on securing new orders resulting from successfully completed projects.

“We are an increasingly recognisable brand in the market,” concludes Ms Kruchelska. “We would like to strengthen our business in the offshore market. We will continue to be visible through international trade fairs and are currently considering taking part in a trade convention in Aberdeen in Scotland.” n

Photo: Kacper Kowalski, aeromedia.pl

Photo: Piotr Wittman