DMT Marine Equipment, a dynamic player in the maritime industry specialized in custom-engineered winches, deck machinery and deck fittings, has forged a path of continuous growth and innovation, setting investment plans in production facilities, green energy, and market expansion.
Delving into the company’s upcoming initiatives, Andre ter Schure, Sales Director at DMT Marine Equipment, explores the forthcoming development of a state-of-the-art production facility, promising to help increase DMT Marine Equipment's capabilities.
Ter Schure also outlines the company's strategic investments in renewable energy, and global expansion, setting their sights on solidifying their presence in key markets across Asia, the Middle East, and the United States, alongside consolidating their brand in Europe.
Could you provide a brief overview of DMT Marine Equipment to our readers.
DMT Marine Equipment is one of the most important suppliers of tailor-made deck equipment in the marine industry. We design, produce, and test in-house winch systems for any type of vessel and all the applications in the marine industry. Throughout our 22 years of existence, we equipped more than 2700 vessels worldwide, with reliable and quick responsive equipment.
Could you provide insights into DMT Marine Equipment's products and how they meet the evolving needs of the maritime industry?
Our approach to making customized equipment compels us to keep up with our clients’ requests. They constantly challenge us, and we embrace this as it’s our “engine” to evolve and become better with each project that we make.
How does DMT Marine Equipment plan to leverage its expansion into the Middle East market to enhance its global presence?
Our presence in the Middle East dates several years ago, soon after our company was founded. During this time, we managed to build partnerships that have become stronger as the market has grown and the projects have multiplied.
A very important step in ensuring solid grounds for our business in the region was establishing a service point that could offer prompt on-site services and spare parts deliveries. We have this partnership in place for many years now and it’s one of the key aspects to remain close to our customers.
Apart from this, as a Sales Director, I look at this region closely and I make regular business trips to visit our clients, consolidating traditional partnerships but also starting new ones. Participating in international events is another way we connect with valuable representatives of the naval industry in the Middle East.
So far, our winches have equipped vessels built by all the major shipyards in the region. Our presence on the makers’ lists is common already and that makes us proud because it’s a confirmation of the quality products and services that we provide.
For our Middle Eastern clients, throughout the years we designed and produced customized winch systems to fit tugboats, offshore projects, dredging, diving, and passenger vessels.
What specific challenges and opportunities do you anticipate in expanding its operations in the Middle East market?
The challenges that we face in this region are common with the ones that we face anywhere in the world. Competing about prices or delivery terms is not new to us and in our experience, we learned how to handle them.
Having the know-how and the capabilities to make customized solutions is our biggest plus during these times when the vessels have become more and more complex and so have the requests from our clients.
They challenge us by asking for special features, sizes, applications, lower weight, or special control and monitoring systems. Fortunately, besides the know-how and the capabilities, we also have the curiosity and the openness to work on projects that “shake” our routine and force us to think beyond the standard solutions. In the past few years, we noticed a significant increase in the number of new building projects, which translated into a higher number of requests for deck machinery. Our running orders for the Middle East include a diversity of winch systems for tugboats, offshore barges, and crew vessels.
Can you elaborate on the strategic partnerships DMT Marine Equipment has established with shipyards in Turkey and how they contribute to the company's growth and success?
It’s not new to anyone that the Turkish shipyards supply yearly an impressive number of tugboats to some of the major owners in the world. Their efficiency, quality, and reliability are renowned around the globe.
This is why, in Turkey, we established some of our strongest and durable partnerships. It’s been many years since we constantly deliver our winches to equip amazing tugboats that are being built by great Turkish shipyards.
Their trust in our products, in our knowledge, and in our constant concern for providing them with the right solutions, has kept our clients close to us. Also, our investments in creating a dedicated after-sales team to ensure prompt services whenever necessary, as well as our dedication to providing proper solutions to the most complex and challenging projects, contributed significantly to the consolidation of our relationships. We are grateful and proud of the business that we managed to develop with our partners in Turkey.
What can you tell us about DMT Marine Equipment’s participation at the 27th International Tug & Salvage Exhibition & Awards 2024 in Dubai?
It’s a tradition for us to attend this event as it’s a benchmark for the tugboat industry. Also, considering that 50% of our turnover is generated by the towing equipment, it was a natural decision to participate again this year. For us, it’s a great opportunity to catch up with our partners, to discover and share new developments in the industry, and of course, to meet interesting new people and increase our network of valuable connections.
What future developments or expansions does DMT Marine Equipment have in store?
It is in our company’s philosophy to constantly invest in our production facilities, in our team’s knowledge, and market expansion.
This is the mix that helped us grow throughout the years and it will not change. To be more specific, later this year we’ll begin the build-up of a new 3000 sqm production facility that will significantly increase our capabilities. The new space will accommodate new machines to help us speed up some processes and adjust the delivery deadlines of our products. Another goal that we’ve been struggling to achieve is becoming 100% energy neutral.
This objective will be accomplished by 2025 due to the heavy investments that we’ll make this year in producing our own green energy in sufficient quantities to sustain our needs. As for our expansion plans, we’ll continue our efforts to spread our name in Asia, the Middle East, and the U.S., while consolidating our brand in Europe.
Robban Assafina, Issue 91, May/ June 2024, Maritime Host, pg. 73
