2 November 2021
Bakker Sliedrecht and Indar - Ingeteam Group, are celebrating their successful 50-year partnership with the signing of a new co-operation agreement. The co-operation between the companies started in 1970, when Bakker Sliedrecht saw its German supplier go bankrupt. The director at that time got into his car, drove across Europe and started looking for a suitable replacement. In Spain, he found a suitable supplier in Indar of Ingeteam Group.
In that half century, Bakker Sliedrecht and Indar became leading in submersible motors. As an exclusive partner, Indar produces submersible motors, tailor made to the specific requirements and wishes of the client. Bakker Sliedrecht supplies and installs these submersible motors on trailing suction hopper dredgers, cutter suction dredgers and deep-sea mining vessels.
“We want to be leading in underwater technology, while Bakker Sliedrecht is an expert in underwater applications, especially in the dredging industry. They understand our technology”, says commercial director Gorka Ibañez of Indar. The Spanish company, located in the Basque Country is specialized in custom-made and high-tech rotating electrical machines. “Our clients want specialist submersible motors, not the standard motors. Indar is the best of its kind,” says proposal manager Marcel Bakker of Bakker Sliedrecht. “It is almost an automatic process in which we produce and supply the right submersible motors with the right specifications together. That is only possible with a company you have had a relationship with for so long.”
In the 1980s, submersible motors were still relatively small in terms of size. Over the years, they got bigger and bigger and were increasingly used for heavy-duty operations. In recent years, the companies together equipped the world’s largest cutter suction dredger with submersible motors, which drive the vessel’s pumps. Also with other motors, generators and other equipment of cutter suction dredger. “That was a typical Bakker-Indar collaboration. Indar supplies the motors and Bakker Sliedrecht does the integration and installation,” says Marcel Bakker.
Both companies are constantly developing innovations, together or apart from each other. They jointly developed a low noise propulsion motor for an Irish research vessel, the Celtic Explorer. Bakker Sliedrecht also uses its condition-based maintenance (CBM) solution for submersible motors. Based on visual inspections and electrical measurements, the actual condition of motors and equipment is monitored, so maintenance can be better planned and action can be taken in the event of malfunctions. Bakker Sliedrecht also investigates whether biodegradable oil can be used in existing submersible motors, because in some areas of the world the use of biodegradable oil is mandatory.
Environmental requirements will play an increasingly important role in the future. “Many vessels will be electrified, so we have to jump on that train,” says Ibañez. “Our motors and generators must have the highest efficiency, be eco-friendly and must be continuously monitored digitally."
