Harken pulls in new business

The lightweight winch offers quick and easy installation, making efficient use of human power by balancing pulling power against speed, and was developed in response to customer demands, it told Maritime Journal.

“Basically, we’ve taken a yacht winch and made it in to a mobile pulling device – something that can replace rope or wire winches, so it’s a big innovation in working practices,” said Andy Ash-Vie, managing director.

With ease of use in mind, Harken designed the plate to remove excess weight and provide multiple attachment points without compromising strength. Essentially, it makes it easier and diverse to use, giving operators the chance to mount it anywhere on the vessel. The pig-tail line lead ensures correct alignment and loading of the winch for maximum efficiency and the plate can be used with multiple fixings depending on the environment and industry.

While loads can be eased through a simple operation for pinpoint control, there is no limit on the length of fibre rope it can pull. Weighing just 7kg, but with a half-tonne working load limit, the two-speed winch is said to magnify pulling power by up to 40 times.

Although it’s driven by a handle, so no power source is required, a high torque power drill can also be used to drive the winch in high speed situations or long durations of use.

While it wasn’t the only product on show – Harken also had pulleys and track systems on its stand – the new CE-certified development proved popular at Mercator Media Ltd’s Seawork 2014, which Harken told MJ provides the “biggest bang for our buck”.

“Overall we had a pretty good show, we got an average of about 40 enquires a day, so around 120 enquiries from so many different countries. We also brought over our Italian, South African and American colleagues to show them and educate them about new markets and new possibilities for our products,” Mr Ash-Vie added.

Now, the company is busy closing off new business made from the show and is continuing to concentrate on the commercial marine market which it told MJ is “a big target for us”.

“Harken started off in leisure marine and we’re going in two different directions, but mostly in the commercial marine sector. We’re expanding our sailor’s ability to handle different loads in different areas and that is a critical part of our future,” Mr Ash-Vie explained.

And while the company isn’t looking to expand elsewhere at the moment, if it can activate the UK market first, it told MJ it hopes to move on to other regions, including China, in the future.