AWARDS 2020 | Best Windlass Supplier – Data Hidrolik

Best Windlass Supplier – Data Hidrolik

Istanbul-based Data Hidrolik is becoming increasingly well known for its high-quality hydraulic and electric anchor windlasses, mooring capstans, towing hooks and steering systems.

Impressively, the Turkish company is equally renowned for its ship and workboat equipment as it is for what it supplies to the super yacht sector. Baird Maritime has recently reviewed two quite disparate vessels that showcase Data Hidrolik products. First, the Camarc-designed, fisheries patrol boat for Kuwait, Sabah, is a 42-metre, 30-knot vessel with a large RIB “daughter boat” that has to be hauled aboard. A very impressive Data Hidrolik multi-purpose capstan/windlass achieves that task aboard that multi-nationally created ship.

The second is the Robert Allan Ltd-designed and Sanmar-built “pocket battleship” tug Bogacay XXXVIII, which was built for Sanmar’s own fleet. It is a 24-metre, 70.3-tonne bollard pull, 13.3-knot harbour tug that sports a Data Hidrolik five-tonne aft capstan and a Data Hidrolik tow hook.

“We have been manufacturing windlasses since the early 1980s,” Data Hidrolik told Baird Maritime, “and now we have a range beginning from eight millimetres up to 42 millimetres chain diameter. We produce our models for pleasure crafts, yachts, commercial vessels, tugs and even navy vessels. So for each market we know the customer demand very well and we make the designs according to these needs.

“With the feedback we get from our customers periodically, we modify our designs and with all these, our windlass models are chosen by different markets. We see that the broad range of our windlass portfolio, our ability to custom design according to customer requests, and our reasonable prices make us preferable in the market.”

The company admitted that 2020 was a challenging year, but it nonetheless provided an opportunity to introduce a new product aimed at satisfying customer demand for more specialised equipment. This was an indication that market demand was gradually shifting towards customised equipment, as shipbuilders sought to widen the gap between themselves and their competitors as regards product capabilities.

“As a result, our horizontal, vertical, electric, and hydraulically-driven windlasses are now available in steel, stainless steel, and bronze.”

Data Hidrolik added that the year 2020 enabled it to continue its steady expansion in the international market. The company said it sales to overseas clients have been increasing steadily every year since 2015 and even made up around 40 per cent of its total revenues for the year 2017.

“We consider 2020 a good year for us since it was during this time that we began seeing the effects of the global marketing campaign that we started in 2017. New customers from around the world keep being added to our client base and so our orderbook has been increasing year after year.”

Data Hidrolik said that, after having achieved such encouraging figures, it is optimistic about its future as a business. It thus looks towards the future to be better able to serve its targeted markets, which are constantly changing as regards preferences for product attributes.

“We’ve been seeing different needs become prevalent in the different markets we serve,” the company told Baird Maritime. “For example, the yacht segment has been placing greater importance on products that are lightweight and aesthetically pleasing while the fishing vessel segment places a premium on material selection (i.e. durability). We therefore see that, in future, product customisation will become more important compared to standardisation.”