EHL Group have demonstrated that when you go local, great things can happen, with the recent partnership with other skilled enterprises in Taranaki to supply EHL-designed gangway systems to a Chinese client.

Being built in the New Plymouth workshops, the automated gangways project for a vessel currently under construction in China is nearing completion. The customised design will be fitted to a large cruise vessel that will sail the iconic Yangtze River between Shanghai and Chongqing. The systems have been constructed with the help of 16 different subcontractors also based in Taranaki.

EHL, which is also involved in renewable wave energy research, has previously built two large gangways for the Royal New Zealand Navy, which was the two for the HMNZS Canterbury, as well as three customised systems for a 177-metre Super Yacht owned by a private client based in Abu Dhabi.

However, the latest venture, enabled through the help of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, demonstrated that Taranaki engineering firms can collaborate together on larger projects successfully, Mr Peter Jannings, EHL Group CEO, said.

“While EHL designed and built the gangway, we relied on a number of local firms for machinery and stainless-steel welding aspects of the project,” he said. “It showed these firms can be involved in other technical projects, not just in the oil and gas sector to keep the lights running.”

Mr Jannings hoped the project would extend to more orders from China and establish a consistent market. “The small cruise ship tourism market, carrying up to 500 passengers, to local areas is just starting in China,” he said. “We can do so much more using the skills of the workforce here in Taranaki to support industry in New Zealand.”

The gangways, which sits inside the ship’s hull and swings out to be used by passengers to disembark, has been tested to carry six tonnes. A short time lapse of the construction can be viewed here.

EHL-designed-and-manufactured gangway systems provide a simple single button deployment within two minutes. EHL Groups technology and designs are built locally in New Zealand, and are exported to shipbuilders globally.

The local suppliers EHL partnered with to complete this project include:

ABD Group Ltd

Connett Engineering Ltd

Croucher & Crowder Engineering

Entec Services Ltd (Taranaki)

GF Hydraulics (Taranaki)

Konnect Fastener Systems (Taranaki)

New Plymouth Stainless Supplies (Taranaki)

New Plymouth Steel Suppliers (Taranaki)

Oil Steel Engineering Ltd (Taranaki)

Rivet (Taranaki)

Superior Machining Services Ltd (Taranaki)

Superior Stainless Ltd (Taranaki)

Supreme Water Jet Cutting (Taranaki)

The Sign Shop (Taranaki)

Turn Talk Engineering Ltd (Taranaki)

Warner Construction Ltd (Taranaki)

According to Anne Probert, General Manager Regional Strategy and Sectors for Venture Taranaki, “the engineering sector in Taranaki has a strong ethos of collaborating on key projects, and this is an example of this”. She adds “this is further reaffirmed by the formation of the newly merged and expanded Engineering Taranaki Consortium (ETC), which comprises 28 Taranaki firms working together to the benefit of the region – EHL being one of them. Engineering work is often project based, so the challenge is to ensure ongoing work; for example, more projects like the gangway project - to retain skills sets and jobs in the Taranaki engineering industry”.