Roll Group and FTE get together

Signing the joint-venture agreement are Peter Rondhuis, Roll Group CEO, left, and Fawaz Al Shammari, FTE Heavylift CEO

Heavy lift and transport specialists Roll Group and FTE Heavylift have formed a joint-venture company for operations in Saudi Arabia.

Netherlands-based Roll Group and FTE based in Saudi Arabia will work together on heavy lift, heavy transport, installation, and marine projects. Roll Group said it will integrate and operate as one company with the FTE Heavylift division in Saudi Arabia.

The new company, Roll FTE, offers end-to-end factory to foundation solutions, Roll Group said. It is based in Dammam and also has additional yards in Jeddah, Jubail and Rabigh.

Further plans
Licences are being obtained to permit road transport operation. The fleet includes conventional hydraulic axles, self propelled modular transporter, wheeled mobile and crawler cranes, plus a range of installation equipment.

Plans are also in place “to invest in marine assets which will be registered and based in Saudi to accommodate the growing number of projects in country requiring a combined marine and land transportation solution,” according to Roll Group.

Nimalan Logeswaran, Roll Group MEA regional sales director, said, “The integration of FTE Heavylift is a key step forward for Roll Group in the Middle East Region. FTE has a strong local presence and is held in high regard with both local and international clients. Their commitment to ensuring the highest safety standards in their operation correspondences to Roll Group’s global values and standards which ensures a seamless integration. By consolidating our equipment and expertise, we can offer our clients tremendous value with optimised solutions for their heavylift requirements. Roll FTE will own both marine and land-based assets in-country, thereby providing a one-stop-shop for our client’s needs in KSA.”

End to end solutions
Fawaz Al Shammari, FTE Heavylift CEO, said, “Combining our local knowledge and project expertise with the global capabilities and engineering expertise of Roll Group, will enable us to offer projects in KSA an end to end solution with one contractor. We will bring to the local market the know-how of Roll Group, especially in marine transport and alternative lifting solutions to cater different project-specific requirements.”

Roll Group started in 2006, with Frans van Seumeren, as RollDock in the Netherlands. The heavy lift and transport division Roll-Lift was started in late 2011 (ICST December 2011, news page 6 and ICST January 2012, interview page 15). FTE’s Heavylift division has operated since 2013.