Cold Link Africa May/June 2016 Vol 1 No 5 | Page 7

NEWS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN

MRE turns 21
T

he first day of April did not go
unnoticed at the head office of Marine
Refrigeration Engineering (MRE) in Cape
Town. It marked 21 years ago since owner
Dennis van der Westhuizen started trading in
a very small office rented from Tri Ocean in
Table Bay Harbour.
With the support of a small welding
crew, the company focused on repairing
the handling equipment of SA Stevedoring
and Tri Ocean. At that time, Tri Ocean
managed the loading of grain from the
grain silos in Cape Town Harbour. “It was
a 24/7 operation and if a piece of the
handling equipment failed, our crew had
to repair immediately,” Van der Westhuizen
remembers.
On 1 October that same year (1995),
Sandra Biccari followed by Chris Magnall
on 1 November. Then, through their
contracts, the company was asked by Cool

Engineering to do a refrigeration contract
for SFW in Paarl as they were unable to do
it. “From that first contract we have never
looked back and continued to grow,” says
Van der Westhuizen.
Of the day one welding crew, Derek
Philander is still with MRE and is now a site
supervisor.
With a broad smile, Van der Westhuizen
recalls some of the early challenges: “When
any of our clients in the refrigeration industry
came to visit, we would meet them in the
front offices and boardroom of Tri Ocean,
giving the impression that we were a wellestablished business. Little did they know
that we only had a poky little office with very
limited workshop space!”
The team remained in the small office
and workshop in Cape Town Harbour for
a few years before moving into their own
premises in Montague Gardens. CLA

Bitzer approves
HFO refrigerants for
screw compressors

B

itzer recently announced that its
CSH and CSW compact screw
compressors are HFO-ready.
Following an extensive qualification
programme, compressor specialist Bitzer
has announced approval of the R1234yf
and R1234ze (E) HFO refrigerants for its
CSH and CSW screw compressors. The

two alternatives to R134a have a global
warming potential (GWP) of under 10,
while the GWP of R134a is around 1 400.
With a GWP of about 600 each, the
HFO/HFC blends R513A and R450A are
also approved for the CSH and CSW
series. Unlike the pure HFO refrigerants,
they’re non-flammable. CLA

The early days at MRE – now 21 years old.

COLD LINK AFRICA • May | June 2016

www.coldlinkafrica.co.za

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