Canadian company takes over embattled NZ anchor manufacturer

by Sail-World on 2 Oct 2011 Embattled New Zealand anchor manufacturer, Rocna, has been acquired by a Canadian chain manufacturer Canada Metal Pacific of Vancouver.

The new manufacturer is reported as having offered to replace and defective Rocna ground tackle anywhere in the world.

www.canmet.com!CMP say that the Rocna manufacturing license has been re-assigned to Canada Metal Pacific. Key Rocna personnel are being retained to assist with the transition and support ongoing activities.

Canada Metal Pacific is a world-leading producer of CMP chain, Martyr™ marine anodes, Octopus™ marine autopilot drive systems and Intellisteer remote steering systems.

The sale follows the issuance of a 'product specification' http://content.westmarine.com/documents/pdfs/RECALLS/PRODUCT%20SPECIFICATION%20NOTICE%20FOR%20WEBSITE%20-%208%2001.pdf!notice by large US marine retailer West Marine for Rocna product sold by them since 2010, due to the metal used in the shank being less than that specified in the certification for the anchor.

West Marine is one of the largest distributors of Rocna anchors worldwide, and the anchor has been sold in 34 countries. Other regions are believed to have followed West Marine's lead. One of the difficulties with the recall is that there are no distinguishing marks on the anchors which will identify the specific anchors which are outside of the specification. That in turn has led to the blanket 'recall'.

In its September 2011 issue, Florida based Practical Sailor magazine investigated the Rocna manufacturing issue. 'In our experience, a shank’s tensile strength was an important selling point for Rocna, and RINA standards are not the last word on shaft strength. When the shank of an anchor bends, it changes the anchor geometry, and its effective holding power can be significantly reduced. Tensile strength is particularly important in plate steel shanks, because of their vulnerability to bending under side loads.'

Estimates on the numbers of anchors affected vary from the Rocna view that only eight Rocna anchors have returned with bent shanks over the lifetime of the business. A former contractor indicated to Practical Sailor that 4,000 anchors were manufactured below the specified manufactured strength of 800mpa - a claim disputed by Rocna.

Sail-World's Cruising website reports that the new owners of the Rocna manufacturing licence Canadian Metal Pacific have pledged to replace any 'defective' Rocna ground tackle ever produced anywhere in the world.

Rocna is one of a number of 'new generation' anchors which have revolutionised the anchor production industry and given many a cruising sailor a new ability to sleep well at anchor.

The new company, which purchased Rocna last month, say they are hoping to rebuild Rocna's reputation which had become tarnished over build quality.

As part of their makeover of the brand, CMP have said that they will ‘find and replace any defective product.' They are also taking over the production process quality responsibility - they have a factory in Ningbo, China as well as Vancouver, Canada and will fight to ‘restore confidence in the classification process.'