Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) is expanding and upgrading its service stations in Shanghai and Guangzhou in direct response to market demand for Fire, Rescue and Safety (FRS) services says Jason Chew, General Manager China.
“As demand for professional Fire, Safety and Rescue services in China continues to grow at a fast pace, we are recruiting and training a team of qualified technicians to service our customers. In addition, we are expanding our capabilities across China to provide our solutions to local customers, as well as continuing to support international vessels”.
As part of the expansion programme, WSS’s Guangzhou workshop has been relocated and its capacity increased to 850sqm, now including storage and space to enable the servicing of 120 liferafts every month. In addition, six highly trained in-house service technicians and three service vehicles manage service jobs throughout Southern China.
Mr Chew continues: ”Investing in manpower, more advanced equipment and tools allows for better efficiency and improved customer service. We currently deliver about three dozen orders per month which includes offshore projects. By utilising the upgraded service station and our extended network, we are confident that we can increase the amount of servicing we carry out with 35-40% by the end of the year”.
WSS’s service station in Shanghai is located on the outskirts of the city and houses both safety and liferaft servicing facilities for the Central China region. The station has eight service technicians and handles over 100 orders per month. Following its recent upgrade, the workshop has increased to 986 sqm in size, to include a 90 sqm training area and five sets of training skids including CO2, Dry Powder, Foam, LAFF and MO2. In addition, the training facility can accommodate up to 21 people.
Currently, WSS China has three approved FRS service stations and four liferaft service stations located in Shanghai, Dalian, Qingdao and Guangzhou which between them cover the entire Chinese coastline. Mr Chew concludes: “By carrying out installations and other technical services in these locations, the travel time and cost of technicians can be significantly reduced, minimising disturbance to the crew during hectic port calls and harmonising inspection dates. Subsequently, vessels can get in and out of port rapidly, reducing costs and improving operational efficiency”.
Wilhelmsen Ships Service’s FRS service adheres to strict ISO 9001:2000 quality standards and allows customers to utilise its global service network.
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Source: WSS, July 31, 2012