Engineering service companies are critical to the continued and reliable operation of the world’s shipping fleet, oil & gas, industrial and power generation industries. Bringing technical expertise and cutting edge technologies and solutions to maintain and repair critical machinery and components to limit operational downtime is the hallmark of successful service companies and the basis for their reputations. Goltens Worldwide is one such engineering service company that, over the past 84 years, has emerged as one of the leading global independent providers of end-to- end solutions across industries. Each year, over 3200 ship-owners, OEMs, shipyards, industrial plants and power stations rely on Goltens to organize, plan, and perform critical maintenance and emergency repair work all over the world.
From a Single Engine Repair Location to a Leading Global Organisation
Goltens Worldwide started during World War II, founded by Norwegian Sigurd Golten in Brooklyn, New York. Initially, it focused on repairing diesel engines for ocean-going ships. Over the years, the company expanded, staying true to Sigurd Golten’s vision of creating a global network of service stations and dramatically broadened its technical and solutions capabilities beyond the basic repair and maintenance of diesel engines for the marine market. Today, Goltens has over 1,200 dedicated professionals and operates out of 14 countries around the world servicing customers not only in the maritime sector but many of the market leaders in offshore, oil & gas, and land-based power sectors.
Core Services and Global Workshops
Presence, Precision and Response are the core drivers behind Goltens’ success and identity. The company has developed service centers in key strategic locations that enable it to service their customers quickly and efficiently with the highest quality. From these full-service workshops, Goltens can not only service the local market but can deploy anywhere required on a moment’s notice.
This global network, its focus on response and its broad range of specialist services is what sets Goltens apart from its competitors. Expanding on its original core engine capabilities, Goltens has become globally recognized for its In-Place machining capabilities that range from in-place crankshaft repairs, line boring, flange facing, laser alignment and metal stitching on not only engines but all types of machinery.
Heavy investments in its Energy Controls vertical have also made Goltens one of the leaders in helping customers maintain and upgrade the complex systems that keep their engines and turbines operating safely and efficiently. Lastly, Goltens established its Green Technologies vertical in 2010 to address the needs of the global maritime community as they dealt with the IMO Ballast Water and Sulphur Emissions regulations.
In this rapidly evolving area, Goltens boasts a remarkable history of over a thousand ballast water treatment and sulfur emissions control retrofit projects and has now redirected its focus to assisting operators with Green retrofit solutions and aims to be a top choice for customers transitioning to new fuel technologies.
Goltens provides these specialized services to support customer operations in many regions around the world with service hubs in Europe, US, Middle East and Asia. Never standing still, Goltens Worldwide has been strengthening its market position with heavy investments in technology and an expansion of its network. The company has plans to expand into Zhoushan, China; Batam, Indonesia; and Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Additionally, it has upgraded several existing workshops to offer more services required by the market.
As an example, in Singapore, its facility for reconditioning two-stroke engines has been expanded with new CNC machines and other updated equipment. Additionally, the company has made large investments in advanced testing facilities to address the requirements of the latest electronic controlled engines in the market.
Goltens has also introduced improved Engine Control Solutions (ECS) for engines and turbines and is offering new environmental services, such as installing air lubrication systems and designing dual fuel conversions.
Beyond the core verticals of Engine Services, In-Place Machining, Green Technologies and Energy Controls, Goltens offers a broad range of services specific to its respective markets. Goltens stations routinely work on maintenance and repair of all manner of afloat mechanical systems (cranes, steering hear, CPP propellers, winches etc.), as well as welding and fabrication, large scale workshop machining and complex electrical work and upgrades. Also, from its purpose built facility in Dubai, located in Dubai Maritime City, the company takes care of full service drydockings for many of the leading offshore and marine customers in the region providing the full range of services in-house.
It is this range of services, its global reach and its focus on minimizing asset downtime for its clients that has earned the company a strong reputation among decision-makers who value uninterrupted operations.
Representative Projects Undertaken by the Company
The company routinely undertakes complex projects to help customers comply with new environmental regulations and casualty repairs to restore their vessels and powerplants to operation. Below are some recent examples:
- Installation of a new shaft generator to power a Wärtsilä air lubrication system, involving a complete shaft retrofit on a bulk carrier. Two sister ships will soon undergo similar environmental retrofits with Goltens’ support.
- Reconditioning of a ME two-stroke engine and emergent replacement of the AE crankshaft on a container vessel.
- Crankshaft annealing and machining of Wartsila 16V32 and 18V46 for a powerplant in the Caribbean
- Stern tube bearing inspection, laser alignment, shaft measurement, polishing, line boring, and precise machining of the bearing housing for a bulk carrier in drydock in China
- Overhaul of four 12V50DF auxiliary engines on a nine-year-old LNG carrier in just 14 days.
- Crankshaft replacement on a damaged Himsen 6H25/33 engine
- Full service rebuild of Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) on a 13-year-old deepwater well stimulation vessel
- Repair of a Hyundai-MAN B&W 10K98MC-C two-stroke engine on a 13-year-old container ship, including renewing the camshaft chain well sprocket.
- Upgrade of engine controls for an Iraqi gas production plant to solve load shedding issues for its four Caterpillar G3520 gas generators
- Metal Stitching/Cast Iron Repair on high-pressure (HP) and low-pressure (LP) compressor casings (6 meters of cracks repaired in only 11 days)
- Ballast Water Treatment system upgrade on a 16-year-old container ship while the vessel was underway across the Atlantic
Investment in Goltens’ Core Resource – Talented People
In 2023, like many others in the industry, Goltens Worldwide faced a global shortage of skilled engineering resources, resulting from increased demand for its services. To address this, the company is actively boosting its technical workforce by 8%. To reinforce and ensure the success of this increase in resources is the establishment of Goltens Training Academy in Vizag, India. The objective of the Academy is to indoctrinate and educate skilled resources in Goltens’ mode of operations to ensure a consistently high-quality service level across the stations. Additional investments in teams of skilled specialists are being targeted as “riding squads’” dedicated to meeting the repeat demands of major customers for programmatic auxiliary engine overhauls while sailing.
Steady Growth and Strategies
2023 was a successful year for Goltens Worldwide, with strong sustained demand from all segments but notably from the offshore support and oil & gas segments in the Middle East, Europe, the US, and merchant markets in Asia. There has also been steady growth in Goltens’ shipyard related services (engine, reconditioning, in-place machining and laser alignment) as drydocking work returns to near pre-Covid levels in China coupled with sustained levels of demand from power plants all over the world. Overall, engine-related work generally contributes to about 55% of the company’s turnover.
Beyond sustained growth in engine, controls and machining services, the company’s focus is to maintain its position as the “go to” partner for marine customers as they navigate the myriad solutions available to limit carbon emissions and comply with CII and EEXI regulations.
Goltens is forging strong relationships with market leading product companies that provide solutions to the market but lack the strong sales force, design engineering capability and network to implement and support their customers globally and efficiently. In this first wave of decarbonization, Goltens has retrofit Engine Power Limitation devices and ShaPoLi systems on many commercial vessels. To support the next phase where owners are looking to implement more significant retrofits, Goltens is well positioned to consult on and implement all manner of decarbonization solutions. Through its experience with Ballast Water Treatment, the company has become an expert at implementing non-invasive and cost-efficient engineering and design solutions that culminate with turnkey fabrication and installation services for these compliance retrofits.
Strategic Relationships Key to Growth
Key to Goltens’ success and its future success are its relationships with market leading OEMs. Building on its many existing sales and service agreements, Goltens recently signed two material agreements with HD Hyundai Global Service, STX Heavy Industries and Norwegian OEM Bergen Engines AS.
The Hyundai agreement, covering Goltens Singapore and Goltens Dubai, covers the service for all Hyundai electrical, electronically controlled, four-stroke, gas, and two-stroke ME engines, as well as Himsen-branded engines. This agreement covers not only overhauls of fuel injection valve activation (FIVA), hydraulic cylinder units (HCUs), hydraulic power supply (HPS), and Alpha Lubricator services, but also other related components. Coupled with this is a long-term service agreement to provide riding squad support for at least 100 HiMSEN engines per year worldwide. The agreement with Bergen AS is targeted at enhancing Bergen’s service capabilities in Asia, Germany, and the Netherlands while the arrangement with STX covers its LPIG engines.
Goltens is also focusing on further developing its Green Technology Solutions, Digitization and Control Solutions, for its customers in achieving their decarbonisation goals.
