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GPS Goes to Heart of Europe
01 Sep 2005
Established UK tugs, dredgers, hopper barges and crane barges operator GPS Marine Contractors Ltd , based at Chatham Dock in Kent, is developing the business further and entering the marine contracting and services market in mainland Europe.
GPS has opened an office at Sliedrecht in the Netherlands under the name GPS Marine Services BV. Simultaneously, GPS has acquired from Smit Heavy Lift BV the floating sheerlegs Taklift-3 (400 tonnes capacity) and Ajax (300 tonnes capacity), together with the tug Zeepaard from Smit Transport BV, which has worked with these units in Rotterdam for a number of years. The vessels are to be renamed GPSAtlas (ex Taklift 3 ), GPS Ajax (ex Ajax ), and Zeepia .The sheerlegs and the tug will be operated through the GPS Marine Services Office in Sliedrecht. GPS Marine Services BV has employed many of the former crew of the vessels and the vessels are managed by members of the commercial and technical management team made redundant following Smit's sale of the vessels.
In this way, the new operation provides continuity and is assured to give customers the same level of operational and technical expertise that they had come to expect when the vessels were operated by Smit.
The new GPS operation is managed by Mr M Kraak, together with operating the sheerlegs, Mr Kraak's long experience in the marine field enables GPS Marine Services BV to offer specialist port agency, assist tugs for tows entering or leaving the Rotterdam area, and to promote the GPS fleet of tugs, drywell and split hoppers, dredgers and heavy lift equipment beyond the UK market.
GPS Marine Contractors Ltd and GPS Marine Services BV will market the GPS Atlas throughout Europe. Both Ajax and Atlas will be based in the Rotterdam area and will serve the industries within the Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp area as well as the hinterland of those ports.
MJ Information No: 21005
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