Undertun Industri AS, of Norway, has signed a of Letters of Intent with two highly experienced engineering firms in Malaysia, to support the future servicing of Undertun gangways in-country.

Undertun recognizes the importance of local service support for equipment sold from overseas into Malaysia, made more important still with the COVID travel restrictions existing today and into the foreseeable future.

SEPARATE AGENCIES 
Understanding the challenges of moving between East and West Malaysia even for the Malaysian workforce, Undertun has appointed separate agencies in both West and East Malaysia. After an extensive short-listing process, Undertun has chosen these two companies based on their experience and capabilities in servicing similar equipment, their close location to the Offshore Oil and Gas operations, their past experience in working in the Offshore environment and their enthusiasm in working with Undertun.

For West Malaysia, Undertun has signed with Naz Galaxy Group Sdn Bhd of Kemaman, Terengganu. Commenting on this initiative, Director, CDR (Ret) Wan Zulkifli Wan Hassan said:

“We are delighted to sign this LOI with Undertun and look forward to many years of supporting the Undertun range of gangways, from installation (at shipyard or alongside) to in-service support, something we are very experienced in doing for similar equipment today”.
For East Malaysia, Undertun has signed with PALB Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd of Miri, Sarawak. Daniel Lai, Director, said:

“We see a big potential for these gangway solutions from Undertun in Malaysia and we are very pleased to have been chosen to cover the servicing business in East Malaysia from our base in Miri, one of the key bases for offshore oil and gas development and associated shipbuilding”.

STRONG POTENTIAL 
Undertun sees a strong potential for their range of gangway solutions but in particular the 12m and 15m Motion Compensating Gangways which are being introduced in many areas of the offshore oil and gas arena globally, to replace the more hazardous means of crew change at offshore platforms such as with swing-rope and crane-lifted Billy Pugh baskets. These gangways also mean that the trend for moving away from costly helicopter transfers will only continue to accelerate.

Alkahfi Lestari Sdn Bhd, has already pioneered the use of one of the Undertun 12m gangways in Malaysia, in operations with ExxonMobil and Petronas. With Petronas planning significant fleet increases over the next few years, including multiple new-buildings as the existing fleet heads towards the 15 year age limit, Undertun confidently expects to see a significant uptick in demand for their safe and efficient gangways and the appointment of these two Service Agents is a key step to realising this growth and giving Petronas and the Petroleum Arrangement Contractors (PACs) the confidence to select this technology for the vessels they charter.

This move into Malaysia for Undertun, mirrors similar recent initiatives with partners in UAE (M3 Marine Technology) and Australia (Tensa Equipment). 

Asia Pacific sales are managed from the region, led by Chris Pemberton of CP Maritime Pty Ltd, based in Perth, Western Australia.