Sarens and Trans Wonderland (TWL) have established a joint venture – Sarens PNG – which will provide heavy lifting, transport engineering, crane rental and integrated logistics in Papua New Guinea.
“Being a giant in the industry worldwide, we can bring immense knowledge and experience to new and emerging markets, eliminating the need to reinvent the wheel,” said Dave Smith, director of global fleet and rental operations for Sarens. The company said that venturing into the Papua New Guinea market would not be possible without local content knowledge, and none have proven more adept than TWL.
“Sarens, as a family-owned company, sees TWL as a company built upon very similar values, where integrity, compliance and governance are at the forefront. Alongside this is the appetite within TWL to grow, not just in the fields where they have excelled over the years, but also to branch out into new fields/markets,” Smith added.
Sarens PNG will be managed locally, providing opportunities for local people to enter and excel in an industry where previously the focus has been on expat labour and management. With Sarens’ trained staff sought after globally, accomplished Papua New Guinean operators will have the opportunity to broaden their horizons by taking up new challenges elsewhere within the global Sarens family, said Andrew Fury, TWL’s chief operation officer. “Our Sarens PNG personnel will have access to the best training and professional development opportunities in the industry, and we look forward to the day some of our homegrown operators have qualifications to match the best heavy lift experts in the world,” he said.
Papua New Guinea’s economic development and robust resource industries means there are plenty of opportunities on the horizon for Sarens PNG. New port construction projects are under way around the country, several key mines are either under construction or due to re-open, and a number of new oil and gas projects are also touted to begin. Access to the global Sarens fleet is a distinguishing feature for Sarens PNG in meeting the country’s growing industrial demands, said the company.
In the immediate term, however, Sarens PNG is pragmatic about entering the market: “We see the opportunities and know what the business is capable of becoming, but we also recognise we are the new kids on the block. We have a fleet of local cranes on the ground in Papua New Guinea ranging from 40-250 tonnes, and our priority for the first six months is to get them all working. In order to do that we know we need to be competitively priced and deliver a superior experience for clients, and we are prepared to do both,” said Fury.
