Water Weights Europe BV
Worth the weight
Water Weights Europe BV is a growing business unit within the Imes Group and Water Weights Group, which developed the water bag and owns the global Water Weights brand.
Specialising in the supply, hire and lease of special weighing devices and proof load bags, which are water-filled bags for proof load testing, Water Weights has established a method for providing test loads for cranes, davits, lift frames and any other lifting or pulling equipment. Water Weights also stocks a large quantity of standard and non-standard load and strain measurement equipment up to 800 tonnes.
Ruud Schroemges, director of Water Weights, elaborates on the formation of the business: “We established Water Weights in 1986, and the company developed rapidly, because we offered a unique product, so we saw strong growth in the beginning. At the time we started the company, we were already in the crane safe load indicator business, so we established Water Weights alongside this business. The company then grew so fast that the group employed additional permanent employees, one of whom was myself.
“After a while, the other company went through some bad times and it eventually went bankrupt, so Water Weights became an independent company, located in Oss, in the Netherlands. In 1994 the company was sold to a dredging ship builder called IHC and was moved to Sliedrecht, in the Netherlands. IHC remained the owner until 2003, when the company was sold into the Water Weights Group with myself as the director. After that the company started to grow very quickly.”
Water Weights offers many services related to weighing, load testing, and water bags. It is able to certify, repair and eventually design high quality proof load bags that meet the customer’s requirements. If the built-in weighing equipment is not working or out of calibration, Water Weights can repair/recalibrate this or, if necessary, deliver replacement equipment. Additionally it can also maintain weighing material, even if the equipment was not bought from the business. Ruud details the company’s main strengths: “It is the unique product that we offer that really differentiates us from our competitors. There is of course competition, but the Water Weights Group has built up a good level of service and a reliable name in the offshore industry, having delivered top quality for more than 30 years all over the world. So our name is known and trusted globally, which is a key factor in the company’s success.”
Alongside its high quality services, Water Weights offers a large range of products related to load testing and weighing, for hire and for sale. It can carry out tests, as well as provide the necessary weighing equipment. Water-filled proof load bags are a unique and simple product that is specifically designed to provide a test load, in place of traditional solid weights, for all forms of testing.
In terms of load measuring equipment, the company stocks a large quantity of standard and non-standard load and strain measurement apparatus. It offers rental material for force measurement tests of up to 800 tonnes and also for compression load tests of up to 200 tonnes per measuring point. This is used for marine as well as industrial and engineering applications. Combining different capacities and specially designed spreaders, very heavy test loads can be applied. As the bags weigh less then two per cent of the achievable load, they allow for considerable savings in transport, storage and labour costs.
Carrying out testing using water bags has a number of advantages in terms of safety. The bags ensure that the load increases slowly so that it is possible to interrupt the test at any moment. All water bags have a safety factor of 6:1 and Water Weights’ proof load bags are certified in accordance with UK Health and Safety Executive requirements, as well as the American Bureau of Shipping.
In June 2009, the company was involved in tests on the Adwood Hunter rig in Israel. Then in July, the company began a load test in Palermo. The project involved six engineers – two from Water Weights Europe, two from Water Weights UK and two from Water Weights Italy – who performed tests on location. The tests were completed within four days of the start date and were a great success. Six hundred tonnes was placed on the main hoist and smaller loads on the auxiliary and whip hoists. The 600 tonne test on the main boom was carried out with a special spreader beam from Water Weights UK. The 550 tonne test in Portugal was also performed in July 2009, just before the Palermo test. All the necessary material was shipped from Portugal to Palermo. The Portugal job was supported and performed by the company’s German agent, VFR Marine Safety GmbH.
Ruud speaks about the company’s development in Germany and France: “We have two new agents, which are directly supported by us using our equipment in Germany and very recently in France. We started these partnerships in 2007 in Germany and 2009 for France, and the business in Germany has grown considerably and taken on some very large testing projects. We had been looking for a partner in Germany for many years, and now we have found a very reliable partner that has helped us to finally develop the business there and other countries, as our German agent has strong business connections all over the world. We expect France to be equally successful.”
Finally he outlines his plans for the company’s future growth: “I believe the business will carry on experiencing the rapid growth we have seen in the last few years. We will also try to provide more services worldwide. Retaining our focus on Europe, we will also look to extend the business beyond this region. Over the last three years we have been working in Russia and we currently have booked a large loadtest project for the beginning of November 2009 in Lithuania. Lately we have seen many more very large projects for weights upwards of 600 tonnes, and I expect this side of the business to develop much more in the future.”
Water Weights Europe BV
Products: Proof load bags and special weighing devices.