Wolffkran JV in Norway

From left, Duncan Salt and Andreas Kahl from Wolff, with Bent Mikkelsen and Espen Hanssen from Mikkelsen

Tower crane manufacturer Wolffkran Holding AG and Norway’s Mikkelsen AS have jointly established Wolffkran Norge AS.

It is a joint-venture company offering sales and rental of Wolff tower cranes in Norway. The new company sealed the deal with its first order, for three cranes, to work on a project in Molde.

Wolffkran Norge will be run by Espen Hanssen, Mikkelsen Kran managing director. Its headquarters are in Drammen, 40 kilometres southwest of Oslo. Commenting on the new JV Hanssen said, “The concentration of our combined efforts as Wolffkran Norge AS makes us more competitive and helps us increase market share across the country.”

Bent Mikkelsen, Mikkelsen AS founder and owner, has been in the crane and transport business in Norway for more than 50 years. “We are very proud of collaborating with a technological leader like Wolffkran. We know each other well and look forward to building a state-of-the-art tower crane business in Norway together.”

Wolffkran said the alliance is important in opening up a new market with a growing demand for big tower cranes with high load capacities. Duncan Salt, Wolffkran CEO, said, “The joint venture brings together two leading companies, each with their respective strengths. Together we can provide excellent tower crane solutions with all associated services to customers. We are very much looking forward to working with Mikkelsen and bringing new momentum to the Norwegian market.”

The first cranes sold under the new joint-venture company were three Wolff 8033 Cross models for contractor Hent to build a hospital in Molde on a 54,000 square metre site. Most of the building will be with prefabricated pieces, each weighing up to 7 tonnes. Hanssen said the Molde hospital project is ideal for the Wolff 8033 with tip load capacities of 8.1 and 7.8 tonnes at 55 metres.

Another two Wolff towers will be erected soon on a Gregers Kvartal residential project in Oslo.

All three Wolff cranes are erected on the Molde hospital project and will remain there until mid-2023