Henriksen Hooks Celebrates 40 Years

Henriksen Hooks AS of Norway will celebrate the 40th birthday of its boat lifting hook at Seawork in July. 

Since its introduction in 1978, the Henriksen hook has become established among users as a safe and reliable means of launching a boat from a single crane. With more than 10,000 hooks now in use around the world, Henriksen boasts a 100 percent safety record maintained since its first hook appeared 40 years ago. Since then, Henriksen Hooks has also grown as a company following the introduction of additional single point lifting hook designs.

Based today in Tønsberg on Norway’s Oslo Fjord, the Henriksen family business first began making a wide range of metal products for the marine industry in 1834. The company began to specialize in the design and manufacture of launching hooks in 1978 when it was founded as an offshoot of H Henriksen. The product’s breakthrough occurred in 1990 when the British Royal Navy recognized its potential and purchased 120 hooks to equip all of its warships. Since then it has remained as an offshoot of H Henriksen and continues under the fifth generation of the family’s management.

In recent years, the company has been responsible for innovations such as a hook that can monitor its own long-term exposure to loads, hooks that incorporate an electrical release system and others with a load bearing capacity nine times greater than their registered weight limit. Many of these will be on display at Seawork including a recently introduced towing hook developed specifically for smaller vessels such as workboats and harbor craft. Now selling steadily since its introduction at Seawork 2017, it is capable of instant release in an emergency. The new towing hook is available to take loads from ten, five and two and a half tonnes and introduces a level of safety that had not been available to workers in this sector.

Being primarily concerned with safety innovation, Henriksen Hooks has most recently announced the introduction of an on-line inspection training program for its customers. Completion of the course enables owners of the 10,000 hooks currently in use around the world to perform the visual inspections of their hooks required annually by SOLAS. Although owners are generally keen to comply with the safety checks specified in regulations, the cost and difficulty of arranging for a Henriksen representative to perform the two-hour inspections has been prohibitive.  Now, customers can designate an employee to complete the course, perform the visual inspections themselves and submit a check-list to Henriksen for certification. A factory inspection every five years remains mandatory but this new idea enables the customer to save significant amounts of money while reassuring themselves that their hooks are safe for the demanding tasks asked of them.