The debate about whether a travel lift bid from an Italian manufacturer will be accepted – over a higher bid from a North American company – is over, as the members of the Wrangell Port Commission voted on Thursday, Jan. 3 to accept the deal and purchase a new haul out unit for The Marine Service Center.
Ascom S.p.A. a Modena, Italy-based firm, will provide the City and Borough of Wrangell with a 300-ton unit to replace the aging 150-ton Marine Travel Lift unit currently in use at the MSC.
Prior to last week’s decision by the commission, some members felt that the Italian model might not be up to snuff when it came to performance or the ability to conduct maintenance and repairs if needed.
During their December meeting, commissioner Clay Hammer said he was concerned about the prudence of buying a travel lift from a closer, better known supplier than the Italian firm.
“With American or western-built equipment it seems like we hold our manufacturing to a different standard of professionalism,” Hammer said. “We have OSHA and everything to make the workplace safe, and we just hold everything to a much higher standard that the Europeans do. As a consequence our equipment ends up costing more. I think it’s better equipment and I am very uncomfortable with Europeans competing in our market, especially when it comes to government money.”
Hammer’s fears were alleviated, however, after Harbormaster Greg Meissner and MSC yard operator Steve Miller took a trip to San Diego, Calif. to test an Ascom unit currently in use at a private yard.
According to Meissner, they found it more than suitable.
“We went down to Marine Group Boat Works in San Diego, which is a fairly sizeable private company that has an Ascom unit,” Meissner said. “When you have close to a $412,000 difference, but questions are raised, you have to go check it out, which we did.”
Meissner added that Miller took the gigantic Ascom unit in San Diego for a spin around the yard – and both were pleased with the performance and construction of the unit.
“The company we visited has four machines in the same yard, and one of them was a 100-ton Ascom,” Meissner added. “They were very, very happy with their Ascom. We talked with the owner and he felt it was the right equipment for its purpose. The one we saw, nothing jumped off the page as bad, and with an open mind we drove it around and found that we loved it.”
Ascom made the lowest bid for the new machine at $1,315,000, while the Canadian-based Kendrick Equipment turned in a $1,714,044 bid proposal.
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