According to the agreement, Viking will become NK’s preferred service provider, carrying out marine fire servicing and sourcing original spare parts for the Korean company’s customers around the world. Viking’s technicians have been trained in NK Group’s systems, in accordance with the IMO’s MSC.1/Circ.1432 revised guidelines, and have gained access to support and technical data directly from the new alliance partner.
NK Group’s firefighting equipment has been installed on over 10,000 vessels to date, most of which have been built in regions where Viking already has significant market shares. With such a large installed base, the Korean company has extensive insight into shipowner needs and preferences both now and for the future. Where appropriate, data on these installations is expected to be loaded directly into Viking’s advanced service notification system, helping to streamline servicing tasks for NK Group’s customers.
Implementation of the new agreement is already well underway, and the first two groups of Viking service technicians have completed training at NK Group’s facility in Korea.
By Jake Frith
