Al Suwaidi Equipment and Transport

In 10 years, Al Suwaidi Equipment and Transport Company Limited has grown from being a basic equipment rental company into a major league player in the equipment services and engineered heavy lift arena for the petrochemical and hydrocarbon markets in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East—and by forming smart alliances, it is now active throughout the region wherever heavy lifting is required.

The Al Suwaidi Group of Companies of Saudi Arabia has under its umbrella 10 strategic business units with diverse activities in industrial services, manufacturing, trading, real estate and construction. Al Suwaidi Equipment and Transport (SET) is the second largest of these, though the largest in terms of assets.

SET is a specialist in heavy lift and transportation solutions and keeps on its books a large portfolio of specialised equipment from generators, welding machines and earth moving equipment of all sizes to mobile cranes ranging from 25 to 400 tons.

The Heavy Automobile section of the Equipment Rental Division provides tractor units, trailers and buses—including more than 200 buses rented internally to the group construction arm, Al-Suwaidi Industrial Services. Finally, under its Heavy Lift and Transportation Division, SET hires out a fleet of crawler cranes from 100 to 600 tons in capacity and related heavy lift services.

Equipment rental remains vital to SET’s business, but the company has evolved with the industry, and the rental business is being squeezed as investment pours into Saudi Arabia and Middle East generally. “The local market has become highly competitive and price driven, and in response we have changed to provide a higher level of service,” says general manager Masroor Sayed Malik. SET has stayed ahead in this business by providing engineering solutions and services from 12 depots throughout the kingdom, providing its customers with remote area aftersales service, preventive maintenance and tailored solutions to keep their businesses running smoothly. But the evolution of SET didn’t stop there.

SET needed to develop services that were not commonplace within the region, and which reflected the global nature of the industry. Malik estimates that $1.3 trillion of petrochemical ‘megaprojects’ are at various stages of completion around the world, of which an increasing number are constructed and supplied by Korean EPC organisations. “Thirty per cent of the world’s large hydrocarbon and petrochemical projects are taking place in the Middle East; of those, 70 per cent are in Saudi Arabia, making it one of the largest markets over the next five years.”

Five years ago, SET developed its Heavy Lift Projects section, which offers a complete turnkey service with engineering backup, and all the CAD and design facilities needed for standalone heavy lift and transportation projects. “Previously we were working with the construction contractors; now we can go direct to the EPC contractor,” says Malik. “This is our USP—when a company like JGC, Samsung, Hyundai, Daelium, KBR or Snamprogetti is bidding for a job we become an integral partner, able to provide all the engineering and commercial estimates to enable them to bid competitively and to win.” With more than 200 Saudi Aramco-certified operators and riggers on its books, SET provides incoming clients with the local knowledge and credibility they need.

From 2008 even heavier transportation was added to the portfolio, and now SET has 110 modular axle line trailers and about 20 SPMTs—immensely powerful multi-axled self-propelled modular trailers. The most recent addition to the SET service offering has been the inclusion of ‘jacking and sliding’ technology which introduces alternative lifting solutions with dramatic cost and time benefits, as Malik explains: “It’s a technique designed with the turnaround market in mind, where for example you need to install a vessel that is surrounded by other installations and you can’t get a crane in without shutting the whole plant down.”

The new service, now one of SET’s most advanced, was proved in the Khurais GOSP development, one of Aramco’s recent flagship projects completed in 2009/10. SET was assigned by EPC contractors Hyundai and Snamprogetti to lift and position vessels without interrupting the ongoing construction work. Special approval was obtained from Aramco (who subsequently accepted SET’s solution as an industry standard) and as a result, significant time savings were achieved on the overall construction schedule.

Jacking and sliding has additional benefits including a safer operating environment, minimal disruption to the ongoing plant construction activity and lower logistics costs. The industry will always recognise the value of safety and best practice even without the cost saving: the customer wins both ways. SET will continue to invest in these systems as they get more advanced, Malik promises.

Two years ago SET registered ALE-Al Suwaidi WLL, a 50/50 joint venture company with UK ultra-heavy lift and transportation specialist ALE, to offer turnkey heavy lift project solutions across the Middle East. This has brought the world’s largest land-based moveable crane into the portfolio, says Malik. “We were involved in the development of the SK 120 twin-boom crane from the concept stage. It is now capable of lifting 4,300 tons, and it can be containerised and shipped to any place in the world where it is needed. The first contract we completed was for the SABIC-affiliated Saudi Kayan Petrochemical project in the Jubail industrial area, where we lifted a 1,100 ton vessel at a radius of over 100 metres. We could do the lift from outside the construction area without disrupting the ongoing work. That is a huge technical and commercial bonus for the customer.”

After Kayan, the crane was moved toprojects in Russia, Ireland, Scotland, the Far East, the US and Venezuela. Currently it is heading back to the US, and should be back in Saudi Arabia by the end of this year. The partnership with ALE rounds off SET’s capabilities neatly. “Between the three companies we can handle any size of equipment services, heavy lift and transportation project in the world.”

One of SET’s biggest projects currently is to handle the entire inland logistics for the mechanical project cargo for Saudi Aramco’s $10 billion Manifa project through its client JGC of Japan. It’s a good illustration of how far SET has come in 10 years. “We have grown from a rental business, developed the service aspect, and are now fully versed in project management.”

On the international front, Malik says, the joint venture with ALE brings in huge capability: locally there are partnerships with forwarding companies like Namma Cargo representing DHL, and Kanoo Freight forwarding company. “Say there is a massive 500 ton vessel being built at a Korean yard: ALE Korea can transport it from the fabrication site to the port; then our partners Namma Cargo or Kanoo through their international alliances will get it cleared and put it on a ship to Saudi Arabia. Namma or Kanoo will clear it for us; we will transport it to the site using our modular trailer, then lift it, erect it, and place it in its final position. In that way we can offer the customer a truly end-to-end solution!”

As in most successful companies, at Al Suwaidi Equipment and Transport people are as important as systems. The company runs a full in-house training programme for operators, riggers and engineers, adding special skills needed for heavy lift handling to the basic qualifications they brought in with them. Malik takes it as a compliment that SET-trained personnel are in demand throughout the industry. “Many of our competitors thrive in this market because of our trained people who are working for them now. We will continue to train new people because they have fresh ideas and the will to innovate and make a difference in this growing industry, and a stronger drive to explore and experiment. That policy is working well for us.”

www.setservices.com