Business idea
Marecom AS aims to be a resourceful partner to protect property against water erosion, and specializes in extreme water erosion cases. The know-how and technology can also be used for environmental projects, i.e. to cover polluted ground on land or at the seabed. The company is situated in Melbu, in the north of Norway. The arctic climate and rough weather conditions makes the company well acquainted with extreme conditions. The company is working with projects in the mountains, in harbors and on land as far north as Spitsbergen.
History
The company was established in 2001 as a result of a research work after the tragic Estonia accident. About 850 peoples drowned after the ferry shipwrecked outside the Finnish Bay 28. September 1994. There was a long public debate about what to do with the wreck on the bottom of the sea, and the Swedish government suggested covering it under a layer of concrete.
The idea of making a flexible reinforced concrete mattress that could be put out over the wreck and filled with concrete from the surface was developed and patented by a Norwegian inventor. The patent was later bought by the leading manufacturer of oil spill booms in Norway together with a small group of investors. A long period of product development, testing and documentation started.
A lot of man hours are required to manufacture a mattress of this kind, and the cost became higher than the market was willing to pay at that time. As a result of this most of the manufacturing was moved to India.
Manufacturing in India
In 2008 the company decided to make a partnership agreement with GPT Group, Ltd in Kolkata, India. The Indian company is a well-respected contracting company. They have built a new plant for manufacturing the Marecom mattresses through their subsidiary GPT Marecom, Ltd.