Calling on SafeRack for a Quick Replacement Dock Gangway
Duke Energy, an electric power holding company in the US, had a marine gangway that went down due to broken welds and eventually, a broken pivoting base. Typical to most organizations, they didn’t keep a backup of dock gangways, so they were effectively without safe access to their barges immediately after the breakage, leaving them in a very unfortunate situation. Desperate to get a replacement, two people from Duke called two different companies, each not knowing that the other was doing the same. One contacted the original manufacturer of the broken gangway, and the other contacted SafeRack’s MarinaStep. After having spoken with both companies, the original manufacturer having the system designed, engineered, and drawn, still had a lead time that was unacceptable to Duke.
SafeRack, however, guaranteed that they would be able to have the system delivered by their required date.
After deliberating and discussing the pros and cons of switching a vendor, they decided to go with MarinaStep based on the lead time and the value of the construction. Given the issue that the old gangway had to do with the welding, Saferack’s dock gangways use a reinforced U-body construction which reduces welds, therefore reducing the opportunity for a system to break and ultimately reducing the possibility of downtime…the exact situation in which they currently found themselves. They were confident in their choice of switching to SafeRack’s MarinaStep.
SafeRack designed, engineered, detailed, and fabricated the gangway, and had it shipped and on their dock faster than the original gangway manufacturer said they could make a direct replacement.
Good thing they didn’t make a direct replacement since they’d likely only be getting a few years out of the next one too had they gone with that. Sure to stand the test of time, the users of the new MarinaStep system tout its praise. They love the solid construction and ease of use, and now can safely accomplish their jobs again, without worrying about their gangway breaking.
