U.K. company supplies pallet jacks for maritime duty

Look inside a busy warehouse and you’ll likely find manual pallet trucks in constant use for transporting heavy materials. The wheeled carts perform well on the level floors of a DC, but what if that work needs to happen aboard a ship buffeted by rolling waves out on the high seas?

Midland Pallet Trucks, based in Kingswinford, West Midlands, England, says its products can fill the bill. The company recently took an order for its manual handling equipment from Safelift Offshore Ltd., an oil industry onshore and offshore supplier.

Safelift bought 18 two-tonne (4,409-pound) capacity pallet trucks, 36 two-and-a-half-tonne (5,523-pound) pallet trucks, and specialized stainless-steel pallet trucks that are impervious to corrosion and rust. According to Midland, that order was shipped out in July for deployment on the Deep Arctic, a 515-foot-long offshore supply ship located in the North Sea.

Midland says it built the units from AISI304-grade stainless steel, which is capable of withstanding challenging conditions like harsh winds and salt spray. According to the company, the new equipment will allow crew members of the Deep Arctic to move machinery, parts, and general loads around the ship with ease.

“We are proud to be able to serve the needs of the Deep Arctic offshore vessel thanks to our sturdy range of pallet trucks designed for the most challenging of conditions,” Phil Chesworth, managing director of Midland Pallet Trucks, said in a release. “Many of our products offer corrosion-resistant materials, but having so many of our trucks operating out at sea is a testament to their robust quality and first-rate manufacturing.”