With the acquisition of Drew Marine’s Fire Safety and Rescue (FSR) division, VIKING increases its global volume, reach and technical competencies for marine firefighting equipment services (MFS).

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment – the global safety solutions and service provider, announced its acquisition of Drew Marine’s Fire Safety and Rescue (FSR) division this month.

“Welcoming on board one of the top three marine fire service providers in the world, the acquisition is in alignment with VIKING’s long-running strategy to be the world’s leading one-stop solutions and service provider, and a trusted safety partner for the marine and offshore industry,” says VIKING CEO, Henrik Uhd Christensen.

With the acquisition, VIKING increases its global volume, reach and technical competencies for marine firefighting equipment services.

VIKING’s ever-growing capabilities

This deal follows last year’s major acquisition of Norsafe, which saw VIKING achieve its status as a high-quality lifeboat, rescue boat and davit OEM, while boosting the company’s profile as a multi-brand lifeboat service provider.

Along the same lines, Drew Marine’s Fire Safety and Rescue division brings further strength to VIKING’s portfolio and boosts its industry leading profile as an end-to-end supplier of full-scope maritime safety solutions. More specifically, the acquisition is a significant boost to VIKING’s marine fire service capability base and global market presence within this field.  

“In terms of competencies and services, the acquisition will provide customers with more advanced expertise and capabilities in marine fire services and dry-docking, as well as wider product choice and service flexibility,” says Mr. Christensen.

At the moment, Drew Marine FSR provides services in more than 150 ports across 45 countries. The division offers a complete range of FSR services, specializing in solutions for fixed-firefighting foam, fixed-extinguishing and dry-powder systems – along with calibration solutions for gas detection, medical oxygen, and dry-docking services. All these capabilities and not least the experience and know-how of the large team of Drew Marine FSR technicians, will transfer to the global VIKING MFS setup.

With the acquisition of Drew Marines Fire Safety and Rescue (FSR) division VIKING increases its global volume reach and technical competencies for marine firefighting equipment services.

Customers will see systems and service merge

Following the acquisition, the Drew Marine FSR headquarters in Rotterdam will take on a new role as VIKING’s new global MFS competency center. This will be supported by a strong and ever growing network of MFS capable servicing stations worldwide.

Like VIKING, Drew Marine FSR operates using advanced digital planning software to streamline services and consistently meet customers’ needs. Now, customers will have access to a portal where they can view service history, budget and planning. Customers will also rest assured knowing that Drew Marine FSR holds approvals from the majority of established classification societies.

VIKING Shipowner Agreement expanded

VIKING’s strategic decision to acquire Drew Marine’s FSR division will also advance the VIKING Shipowner Agreement concept, which allows vessel owners and operators to streamline and simplify all aspects of safety equipment compliance with a single global expert supplier.

Making a deal

VIKING and Drew Marine have been in dialogue about a potential acquisition of the Drew Marine FSR business since the summer of 2019. Drew Marine itself was procured by private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners (www.courtsquare.com) in late June 2019. In turn, Drew Marine’s new CEO, Frank Monteiro, set a new strategic direction for the company, focusing more explicitly on their core chemistry business and technical expertise. Consequently, the quest for a suitable partner to take ownership of Drew Marine’s FSR division began. In the process, it has been important to identify a partner that could be trusted to secure the business going forward, while taking good care of existing FSR customers and employees. The acquisition will see 50+ Drew Marine FSR staff at seven locations transferred to VIKING. The transaction will take place on January 2, 2020.