Spotlight on Sarens in Angola

Sarens entered Angola in 2021 as a heavy lifting and specialised transport service provider. In the past two years Sarens has established a strong presence in the country. According to Tim Biesemans, Regional Director, South Africa, “Angola is a stable economy with growing industries – offering broad business opportunities for heavy lifting and specialised transport industry. The fast paced development happening in Angola offers greater scope for a global specialist like Sarens to offer its services, skilled workforce, and rich experience of 70 years.”

Sarens currently has an office in the city of Luanda and a yard for storage and maintenance activities of our equipment in the city of Viana. Our fleet in the region includes mobile telescopic cranes (50-500T), lattice boom crawlers (100-600T), and other equipment available from our regional office in South Africa and our HQ in Belgium.

Tim adds, “Angola is a friendly country which has allowed us to have the necessary synergy to transform ourselves into a local company to serve our clients in the region closely. Our local presence facilitates the business processes, ensures better client interactions, and smoother project execution. It also strengthens the confidence of new clients who prefer dealing with locally established companies.”

To closely know about the business unit in Angola we spoke to David Rojas, Country Manager for Angola. 

How important it is for us to know the local business culture and what has Sarens done to be ready?

We consider that knowing the local business culture is a priority since it forms the basis of integration with our clients and collaborators. In this direction we have hired experienced local personnel from the beginning of our operations in the country. We have also attended the local congresses and conferences which has helped us know about the local business culture in detail. 

Tell us about the professionals we have on the ground. What are their specialties and how do those help our current and potential clients?

We have a team of professionals including local and foreign personnel having immense experience in the industry. All personnels are trained and certified with the highest international standards to guarantee optimal performance of their functions. Additionally, they also receive safety, health, environment, and quality (SHEQ) trainings that gives them an engaged mindset. 

We have specialised crane operators for crawler cranes and hydraulic cranes, specialist riggers who perfectly follow the procedures for lifting loads, and experienced supervisors. We also have trained mechanical technicians to keep our fleet in optimal condition with a rigorous maintenance plan. Together they offer our clients quality service that is reflected in the continuity of the projects.

How much equipment support do we have from Southern Africa’s head offices in South Africa and how much support do we have from Sarens HQ in Belgium?

Southern Africa’s head office current fleet includes hydraulic cranes (20-650T) and crawler cranes (100-600T). Sarens HQ in Belgium has one of the most diverse and large fleet of equipment in the world comprising of rough terrain, all-terrain, truck cranes, and heavy crawler cranes. Along with the most advanced fleet Sarens has almost 65 years of industry experience. We also have the largest land-based crane in the world - the SGC-250 or the “Big Carl” with a capacity of 250.000T/m. Sarens also has a robust Technical Solutions Department to provide complex structural calculations and select the most effective solutions for our clients. With our out-of-the-box thinking, together with our optimal deploying of the right equipment, we offer unparalleled lifting and transport techniques for each project.

In which markets do you see Angola more active and do you think Sarens can serve those markets with our services?

The Oil & Gas sector is the top sector in the country. Mining and civil works are also one of the key sectors of Angola. The expansion of Angolan production of crude oil, entails the strengthening of the current infrastructure and expansion of the existing facilities. Our services are perfectly suited to this need, since we have a diverse fleet of heavy lifting equipment and the necessary experience of working with large-scale projects globally.

Angola is very active in Oil & Gas. How can Sarens help clients in this sector?

Our rich experience, highly trained personnel, and large fleet of equipment helps us to offer one-stop-solution to the heavy lifting and transport needs of the Oil & Gas sector. 

• Our fleet includes diverse equipment with a wide range of lifting capacities. The equipment is maintained in optimal conditions for proper operation by carrying out regular inspections and certifications according to global standards.
• With our engineering, projects, and rental services, we can collaborate with the client at all stages of the projects thus achieving better cost-benefit result and reduced timelines.
• Sarens also offers customised technical solutions that allow us to comply with the need of our customers

Is there a limit to the sectors we can supply services?

Sarens has a vast experience in serving a large number of sectors globally: 

• Civil works: Sarens has been involved in many new-built civil construction activities around the globe, providing cranes for steel assembly work and installation of complex civil structures and a rich history in accelerated bridge replacement and installation technologies.
• Oil, Gas & Petrochemical: Sarens has globally executed some of the most complex lifting projects for the Oil & Gas sector including installation of 1.300T reactors lifted by crawler cranes, a 1.390T splitter column of 125m in length lifted by a tower system, and the transport of a topside module of 15.000T, to name a few.
• Minerals, Metal & Mining: Since the mid-2000s, Sarens has built a strong reputation in the minerals and mining industry. Sarens has a proven experience of handling modules and providing load-in services on the manufacturing yard, load-out and inland transport services, and heavy lifting and installation works on site.

Others: Other sectors served by Sarens are gas power plants, coal power plants, wind, forwarding, offshore & module yards, thermal & nuclear power plants, and solar. 

Sarens is always open to respond to the current challenges of our clients, which arise with the constant updating of new technologies and industrial development.

Do you see Angola entering renewables? If yes, what role will Sarens have to play there?

Angola is in the process of adapting to use of renewable technologies. It has a national strategy for new renewable energies which establishes the national principles and objectives for the promotion and exploitation of new renewable energy sources in Angola. 

Sarens presence and experience in the renewable energy sectors globally can align with the renewable goals of Angola. We can collaborate by providing necessary equipment and bring on table our broad experience in:  

• the transportation, lifting, and installation of wind turbines, making us a valuable partner for both onshore and offshore projects.
• the construction of solar towers using our heavy luffing tower cranes. These cranes consist of a modular system that can reach up to considerable freestanding height with different jib lengths and requires only a small ground area.