MaK Middle East’s Turbocharger Services reinforces MENA maritime industry

The Caterpillar company’s turbocharger services have bolstered the MENA region by replicating MaK Asia’s success formula in Singapore, Shanghai and Guangzhou

UAE – Dubai

Sallam Sallam

MaK Middle East LLC, a Caterpillar company established in Dubai in 2017, launched its Dubai Maritime City (DMC) workshop last year, including a comprehensive range of turbocharger maintenance, overhaul, repair, upgrading and modification service options. The company has since presented the capabilities to owners across the region to enthusiastic response and high appreciation from a satisfied and growing customer base.

Alan Naisby, Managing Director of MaK Middle East and MaK Asia commented on this growing voice of support by saying, “While MaK Middle East is proud of its contributions in helping customers succeed and improving the maritime industry, we are never satisfied. As a wholly owned service business of Caterpillar, we are always focused on actively searching for innovative solutions to enrich the local maritime sector, something that has clearly resonated with our clients.”

Financial strength

Despite MaK Middle East’s short existence, the company has made bold financial investments as part of Caterpillar’s strategic goal of doubling its Services business by 2023. To date the company has injected some AED 1.5 million into assets and skills in Dubai to establish its Turbocharger service capability, inclusive of a state-of-the-art Schenck rotor balancing machine, scissor lifting tables, fixtures, tools, inventory, experienced technicians and engineers and their factory training. Naisby said, “The support of our USD $54 billion parent corporation, Caterpillar, has been instrumental in providing us the means to take the financial risks to invest in this region.”

He further added, “Caterpillar’s rank of #65 in the Fortune 500 listing has also been of significant benefit to our operations, as it has provided us with the strong starting point of greater recognition, something which start-up organizations aren’t usually privileged to have. The ability to make strategic investments to achieve long-term returns has undeniably been a key contributing factor in establishing MaK Middle East’s presence in the MENA region and supporting our MaK and CM customer base”

MaK Middle East’s state-of-the-art Dubai workshop has rapidly increased the volume of turbocharger services to its clients, always using genuine parts. The business has also made a sizeable investment in a comprehensive inventory of service exchange cartridges which are all available at a moment’s notice from the DMC facility. This includes Napier NA297 and NA357 units for MaK M 32 engines and KBB HPR6000 units for MaK M 25 and M 20 engines as well as Napier and KBB genuine spare parts plus new cartridges for MaK, Wartsila, Yanmar, Himsen and other applications.

Highly Qualified Personnel

Along with the investment in state of the art machines at its facility, the company has equally emphasized the importance of investment in its service team to guarantee speed of turnaround and customer satisfaction. Equipping its service team with Saudi Arabian work visas to enable same day response, MaK Middle East has also put in place logistics support for exchange units with the KSA and other regional countries within proximity.

Certified at the Napier factory in Lincoln in the UK and the KBB factory in Bannewitz, Germany, MaK Middle East’s turbocharger service engineers and technicians are all manufacturer trained and well-experienced. Schooled in servicing turbochargers from varying manufacturers, the company’s skilled workforce of technical experts follows a similar formula to that of Caterpillar’s MaK Asia owned workshop teams. Providing turbocharger services on board a vessel ranges from basic condition inspection to removal and installation for workshop overhaul or cartridge replacement.

Naisby stated, “Optimal engine performance, the elimination of unexpected operating costs, and maximum fuel efficiency are all objectives that can only be successfully achieved through the thorough maintenance of a turbocharger. Although it has only been a few years since our inception, our customers have made it vocally known that they are appreciative of the proficiency of our service support. With that said, we are committed to ensuring our customers throughout the MENA region continue to rely on us to keep their turbochargers running efficiently at all times.”