AUSTRALIA’S NOAKES BOAT & SHIPYARDS PURCHASES NEW MARINE TRAVELIFT 75 BFM II MOBILE BOAT HOIST

STURGEON BAY, WI (April 14, 2015) – Marine Travelift Inc. announced today that Noakes Boat & Shipyards in Australia has purchased a new 75 BFM II mobile boat hoist. Established in 1979, Noakes now owns and operates New South Wales boatyards/shipyards in North Sydney and Nelson Bay, as well as a Tasmanian sister yard at The Kermandie on the Port Huon River. Noakes is co-owned by Sean Langman, managing director for the Noakes Group, and business partner Christopher Stannard.

Langman has been the sole owner of Noakes since 1984. Although Noakes began as a rigging company working in the yacht and construction industries, today it’s a full-service maintenance and repair facility that can handle everything from survey lifts and antifouling to osmosis repair, full paint jobs and major refits.

The company’s first Marine Travelift machine was a 30 AMO mobile boat hoist, which it purchased in the late 1970s and continues to operate at its North Sydney yard. It also has a Marine Travelift 100 BFM at its Woolwich docks and a 45-ton Marine Travelift mobile boat hoist at its Nelson Bay facility.

“Noakes prefers U.S.-built machines,” Langman explained. “The recognized supply service of Marine Travelift along with unparalleled engineering prowess ensures that it will be Noakes’ supplier of all future machines.”

Noakes purchased its new Marine Travelift 75 BFM II, for the North Sydney facility in late 2014. The new machine was delivered and assembled in January 2015, just in time for the first lift of the Royal Australian Navy’s new landing craft.

“We purchased the machine specifically for our Royal Australian Navy work,” Langman said, noting that the rating was required to fulfill RAN requirements. “The relationship with Marine Travelift is crucial for our defense work, which requires engineering and design certificates as well as a proven track record for machinery. Marine Travelift not only supplied the required certifications, but also specific lift details for the RAN landing craft.

“The tight schedule from order to supply was key for Noakes’ choice of Marine Travelift,” he added.

Marine Travelift designed the 75 BFM II mobile boat hoist to be a versatile, capable lifting solution for marinas that need to lift a variety of boats on a tight schedule with reliability, efficiency and confidence.