Regional lifting and heavy transport specialist, Al Faris, has placed an order for 69 new cranes with Liebherr in a deal worth more than $87 million.
The order comprises wheeled mobile cranes in capacities from 50-650t and crawler cranes of 400-800t ratings, which will join Al Faris’ fleet of more than 600 cranes. Marking the order at the Liebherr-Werk Ehingen factory in Germany were Hillary Pinto, managing partner at Al Faris Group, Holger Amann of Liebherr Middle East, and Christoph Kleiner and Georg Reinbold, both from Liebherr-Werk Ehingen.
Among the cranes ordered are two LTC 1050-3.1 compact cranes and 12 units of the LTM 1230-5.1, the first of which has already been handed over, making it the first of its kind in the Middle East, said Liebherr. The 500t LTM 1500-8.1, which Pinto described as his “absolute favourite crane” has also been handed over and joins 11 others of its kind that Al Faris already owns, making it the largest fleet of LTM 1500-8.1s in the region.
Also in the order were two 700t capacity LTM 1650-8.1 models, which will be delivered in 2022. The model succeeds the LTM 1500-8.1 and was launched at Bauma 2019. Crawler cranes in the order included the 400t and 600t capacity LR 1400/1 and LR 1600/2, as well as the new 800t LR 1800-1.0.
According to Liebherr, Al Faris, which was started in 1992, has grown to become the largest crane and transport vehicle rental company in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. The Dubai-headquartered company has added 60 new Liebherr mobile cranes to its fleet in the last two years, making it one of the largest customers of the manufacturer.
With mobile crane rental as its core business, Al Faris also offers engineering and management packages for heavy haulage and lifting projects. It has a workforce of 3,200 people spread across six branches in the UAE, three in Saudi Arabia and one in Bahrain, and operates a total equipment fleet of more than 2,450 units comprising cranes, heavy transporters, trailers and other equipment.