Massive Angolan project tests Anchor’s mettle

AS SAFETY specialists in the lifting and rigging industry, Anchor Industries – a key supplier of offshore mooring chains in Southern Africa – has just completed a major international project in Angola. In this it was appointed by the US company Global Drilling to inspect its entire inventory of lifting and rigging equipment. “This high-scale project,” said MD Dale Hutcheson, “involved sending two experienced Anchor Industries inspectors to the company’s three crane barges to inspect the equipment. “The project was completed while one barge was under tow from Angola, and the other two were inspected in the port of Tema in Ghana and in Pointe Noire, the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).” A total of 2 800 pieces of equipment – including shackles, slings, sockets, hoists and steel wire rope – were visually inspected over a 30-day period. “Several registers of all the equipment were tailormade according to the client’s specifications,” said Hutcheson, “and cross-referenced with the visual inspection certificates that were issued.” With a stock-holding of more than R55-million, Anchor Industries is the only stockist and supplier of offshore chains and anchors in Southern Africa, and has over 60- years of experience in the marine, mooring and lifting industries. “We are also the only stockists of rental mooring equipment in Southern Africa,” said Hutcheson, “and operate under the annually audited, Det Norske Veritas approved, ISO9001 quality management system obtained in 2000.”