New Kongsberg Maritime South African Facility Opens
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New Kongsberg Maritime South African Facility Opens

Kongsberg formally opened its first office and warehouse facility in the Republic of South Africa on Friday 4 November 2016. Located in Cape Town’s airport zone, Kongsberg Maritime South Africa has been established to better serve customers located in or visiting ports across the country and throughout the Sub-Saharan region. The new facility joins Kongsberg Maritime’s extensive global network of first-party sites, consisting of 64 offices located in 20 countries and employing over 4,000 people.

Kongsberg’s expansion in South Africa comes as the Government’s National Development Plan turns towards maritime resources as part of ‘Operation Phakisa’; a programme implemented to unlock the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans. Kongsberg Maritime’s diverse technology portfolio can support all major pillars of the Operation Phakisa maritime programme, including: Marine transport and manufacturing, offshore oil & gas, aquaculture, marine protection and ocean governance/monitoring.

Local benefits

The Kongsberg Maritime South Africa facility currently combines office and warehouse space in addition to a testing lab, with plans already in place to open training facilities that will help local offshore operators to meet local content requirements. Kongsberg Maritime is also committed to employing local engineers to support a diverse customer-base across the African continent through technical skills and knowledge in addition to cultural experience.

Kongsberg Maritime South Africa currently addresses all customer needs within the merchant automation and dynamic positioning segments, with an ambitious plan to quickly expand scope as the facility grows next year. Current focus is on service, maintenance and after-market support, but the facility will act as a local contact point for all customers in the region. With its location close to Cape Town International Airport, Kongsberg Maritime South Africa can deploy technicians to customer vessels throughout Sub-Saharan Africa faster and for lower-costs.

Opportunities

The current shipping and offshore markets are challenging but it’s vital that Kongsberg continues to support the global customer-base by ensuring they have local facilities ready to help wherever a vessel may be, said Vegar Arndal, EVP Global Customer Support, Kongsberg Maritime. The new South Africa office positions a team of experts closer to customers in the region, enabling a faster, more cost-effective response should we need to visit a vessel. Kongsberg Maritime South Africa is a first and important building block in Kongsberg’s journey in the region. The company has a long-term focus and expects the African continent to be even more exciting going forward, Arndal added.

There is an ocean of opportunities in South Africa and throughout the continent, with fast growing economies that attract more and more shipping traffic and a steady offshore oil & gas industry, said Rune Haukom, VP Global Customer Support – offshore and chairman of Kongsberg Maritime South Africa. By being present with an own facility, Kongsberg will be better positioned to support local industry across the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region and be part of the growth that Operation Phakisa is expected to generate.

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