Finnish company Aquamec is looking to the Middle East markets for buyers of its aquatic machine, which can function as a suction dredger, backhoe dredger, pile driving, and use other hydraulic tools.
“Watermaster is a unique machine, extremely mobile and versatile. It does the work of many separate machines and it is able to move in locations that are unreachable for traditional equipment,” sales manager Johannes Karvonen told PMV Middle East.
A number of the odd-looking machines are already in use through-out the GCC, including three in the UAE that were sold to the National Marine Dredging company, used on construction and suction dredging works in the shorelines and islands in Abu Dhabi.
The machines have also been sold to firms in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
A key feature of the machine is that it is easily transportable as a complete unit, unloads and walks into the water by itself, without needing a crane.
The work attachment at the end of the boom can be changed for a range of applications, including cutter pump for suction dredging, different size of buckets for backhoe dredging, rake for removal of vegetation and trash, piling bucket and vibrating pile driver for piling works.
Designed for shallow waterways, small rivers, lakes, ponds, basins and sea shores, the maximum working depth is about 6 metres. Once in the water, the machine cruises with its own propeller system, and can anchor itself.
“Interest in the Watermaster technology is increasing in the Middle East and these units that we have delivered so far are just the beginning. We definitely feel there is room to grow in the market,” said Karvonen.
Construction companies that work in the water environment are the biggest potential group of customers believes Karvonen, saying that the machine allows them to work on sites that would be unreachable with traditional machinery.
“Though Watermaster is very well known in the dredging industry it is still relatively unknown and represents a new way of working for the many construction companies in the Middle East. Once the information spreads about the benefits of the Watermaster concept compared to traditional methods, we are sure it will lead to significant increase of deliveries to the Middle East,” he said.
