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Markey Machine: what it takes to be shortlisted for an ITS innovation award
Since being shortlisted for an International Tug & Salvage (ITS) Innovation of the Year Award, Markey Machine has expanded its range and strengthened its position as a leader in the deck machinery market by acquiring JonRie InterTech (JR)
Markey Machine vice president for business development Scott Atkinson explained to Riviera Maritime Media the rationale for acquiring its key competitor.
“JR had been a common competitor through the years, so we at Markey came to understand JR’s advantages for certain end-users’ applications,” he said.
“For starters, JR is principally active in the hydraulic market, with electric winches being a tiny minority of the recent sales; conversely, Markey has grown steadily more electric, only occasionally supplying hydraulic products.”
The two brands are complementary and enable Markey to offer its customers deck machinery from two manufacturers at the same time.
“Secondly, the JR line has many references in the international market, as we discovered at Riviera’s TUGTECHNOLOGY ‘23 in Rotterdam in May 2023,” said Mr Atkinson.
“Thirdly, while providing popular designs and effective, custom solutions, JR can be highly competitive in its pricing.”
Another influencing factor was the two companies began to co-operative in the after-market realm about five years ago.
“JR was short-handed and Markey had been approached with a request to assess a JR product installed on a tug in Seattle, US, near Markey,” Mr Atkinson continued.
“Markey ended up executing servicing, and has done several more since, so we became more familiar with each other over the period. As a result of this initial activity, word spread, and now Markey has created a whole new division, Sentinel Survey, to undertake servicing of Markey’s brand, and increasingly, winches of other manufacturers.”
Integration of JR into Markey began in Q4 2023 after the acquisition was completed, and is ongoing, generating synergies in business development.
“Without question, and as anticipated, JR’s footprint is such that we are seeing a number of doors opening that had previously been closed,” said Mr Atkinson.
“Our interactions at this time are more than daily, they are closer to 24/7, given an enthusiastic market response. Both entities are benefiting from a technical renaissance as new thinking and new approaches are being shared.”
Other than winches, JR also produces barge-hose cranes, hose reels and dredging equipment, to provide turnkey solutions.
Markey has also secured orders and use cases for its award-shortlisted Agile Concept escort winches, including for those installed on two LNG/diesel dual-fuel escort tugs HaiSea Kermode and HaiSea Warrior, that Sanmar Shipyards built for HaiSea Marine.
Signet Maritime also installed Agile escort winches for its tugs Signet Capella and Signet Sirius, built in the US for escorting tankers and gas carriers at US Gulf terminals.
Mr Atkinson expects orders for Agile winches for four more tugs being built in the US for Gulf Coast terminal operations.
ITS Awards 2024 winners will be announced during the gala dinner at the International Tug & Salvage Convention, Exhibition & Awards. This memorable event saw over 500 industry members come together to recognise industry achievement and connect with colleagues in 2022.
Use this link to nominate any individuals, vessels or organisations that have stood out for driving progress for ITS 2024 Awards, which include categories for ports and harbours, tug owners, innovations, safety, salvage, lifetime achievement and tug of the year.
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