Company History
We began our journey in 1999 to provide a marine and industrial hydraulic service to industry from our base in County Donegal Ireland.
We have grown steadily but consistently over the years increasing the range of services we provide and branching across into sectors that include the oil and gas, renewable energy and utility industries..
We are at home working on a vessel whilst under way at sea or up a mountain installing a wind turbine, some of the highlights of how we got where we are today are given below:-
EKM Timeline
The Beginning
1999-2001
Early Days at Kilmacreddan Inver
EK Marine Ltd is born providing marine and hydraulic services from a 2 story garage beside the founding partners, Eunan and Bernadette Kennedys house at Kilmacreddan, Inver County Donegal. Eunan and his small team of highly skilled Hydraulic Engineers and Fitters soon gain a reputation for providing a first class service to the fishing vessels based in Killybegs, Irelands premier fishing port.
Stores & Manufacturing Departments Established
The demand for hydraulic parts and fittings in Killybegs lead us to establish a stores department which would provide a comprehensive range at a location where vessel engineers could readily and easily obtain the parts they required for hydraulic repairs and maintenance aboard their own vessels. Stock was soon extended to include service parts and filters for a large range of marine engines and machinery.
A small but well equipped fabrication and machine shop was set up to allow the design and manufacture of deck and net handling equipment for the local vessels and trawl net manufacturers.
Growing Wings
2002-2006
Crossing the Atlantic
First contract secured in the United States to convert the 149′ long beam trawler Challenger into a pelagic fishing vessel. The conversion was carried out at the Bocnco shipyard in La Batre Alabama, EK Marine Ltd’s scope of work was to install the new deck equipment required for the change in use and to reconfigure and update the hydraulic control systems. The converted vessel was then based in the Massachusetts town of Gloucester from which it will fish for the pelagic species along the eastern seaboard of the United States.
First Full deck Equipment Package Supplied and Installed
2006 Saw the first full package of deck equipment specified, supplied and installed aboard the new build vessel the MFV Western Venture, a boat purpose designed to fish for pelagic species on the East Coast of America. The equipment was built and shipped to the shipyard in Alabama where it was installed together with the hydraulic control system by EK Marine’s team.
A New Home and Industry
2006-2008
Move to New Workshop
We moved into an industrial workshop on Roshine Road on the Outskirts of Killybegs less than 1 mile from the New Pier. The facility consists of 2100 square metre industrial building which enables us to set up dedicated stores, hydraulic workshop, machine room, fabrication bay and offices. Outside there is 8000 square metres of hard standing which include a large concreted yard and storage area.
Oil & Gas
The company lands its first large contract for the Oil & Gas industry which see’s us install the hydraulic systems for 2 jack up rigs on behalf of Superior Energy at the Boconco shipyard Alabama. All work is carried out to ABS and where required SOLAS. The vessels have 245′ legs and are designed to carry out post well head operations and offshore construction tasks in the Gulf of Mexico.
Expansion
2009-2013
Crane Hire
Up until now we had operated two small yard cranes to satisfy our own lifting requirements, the demand for crane hire in the environs of Killybegs and the increase in the size of deck equipment we are handling sees us purchase l3 mobile cranes each with increased lifting capacity and reach. The cranes are:
- 35 ton Grove
- 50 ton Grove
- 80 Ton Faun Tadano
- 110 Ton Faun Tadano
Workshop Facilities
The demand for our range of EKM deck equipment sees us enlarge the existing workshop and invest in new machinery and equipment which includes:
- Dedicated 2 bay paint shop
- CNC 6 nozzle gas cutter with 16m x 6m bed.
- Large capacity lathes and horizontal boring machines.
Record Orders
2014
Fishing Deck Equipment
The year commenced with record orders for 5 packages of deck equipment for new build fishing vessels. The equipment will be custom designed, manufactured and installed in the respective building shipyards by our team over the next 18 months. New designs are on the board for winches, deck cranes and hose reels, these will be exhibited at Nor-Fishing 2014, Norway’s leading fishing exhibition which is the first time the company has exhibited at a trade show outside of the UK and Ireland.
Folding Knuckle Boom Cranes
2019
Fiona KIII
Design and manufacture of the first folding telescopic knuckle boom crane to be built in Ireland which was installed upon the 35m new build pelagic fishing vessel the Fiona KIII built by Mooney Boats Ltd of Killybegs. The crane has a lifting capacity of 1.5 tons @ 10m and is built to full marine specification including a 2 ton 2 speed winch.
The Future
2023 >
Consolidation and Innovation
We intend to consolidate our position as Ireland and one of Europe’s leading manufacturers and installers of marine deck equipment. The expansion of our design team, its capabilities and the range of equipment we produce will see us enter new markets and industries, both in the UK, Ireland and Overseas.