Middle East Cat® Dealer Al-Bahar Provides Entire Range of Services During Pandemic

United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the first Middle East country to report a coronavirus-positive case following the coronavirus outbreak on January 29 after a family of four arrived from Wuhan, China.

As the Cat^® dealer in the UAE region of the Middle East, Al-Bahar operates in UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain and has adapted swiftly to provide support to its customers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Al-Bahar provided assistance by supplying rental power generators to the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company, which is managing the power supply to five drive-through COVID-19 testing centers in the capital city of UAE. The Cat C13 gensets were delivered between April 12-19 and are equipped with an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS), which enables an automatic transfer of power in the event of a grid power failure. Each unit is capable of supplying enough power for the entire drive-through setup.

Drive-through clinics have been built and medical staff drafted in from private hospitals to make mass testing possible in recent weeks. The country has carried out temperature checks, nasal swabs, and basic blood tests on as many as 35,000 UAE residents per day.

“We have received calls from various customers asking for assistance and help to support them with a power solution,” said Mohamed Kaddour, vice president of energy and transportation for Al-Bahar. “We mobilize, deliver, install, maintain, and manage the generators to ensure they are running all the time. We are providing an end-to-end solution during this critical time.”

As a precautionary measure to combat COVID-19, workers’ accommodation facilities in Abu Dhabi have been equipped with quarantine facilities for foreign workers who have recently travelled abroad.

Over a three-day period, the Cat dealer also provided a total of 17 MW of rental power at the two quarantine facilities established 100 kilometers outside of Abu Dhabi. The gensets were mobilized April 17 and installation was concluded April 20. The Cat units are operating as prime power with redundancy at the 2,700-room facility.

Al-Bahar performed delivery, installation, and commissioning of the generator sets. The power solution included:

• 10 Cat C15 gensets (500 kVA)
  
• Four C32 gensets (1000 kVA)
• Eight 3512 gensets (1500 kVA)

“When we were called for the requirement, we had to work around the clock to ensure the delivery was done as soon as possible,” Kaddour said. “We are on call to ensure the support is provided for the generators we supplied.”

Also, Al-Bahar supplied generators to two COVID-19 field clinics located in Kuwait and run by the Kuwaiti Army. This includes two Cat C18 gensets and a C13.

Al-Bahar personnel working in the field are taking necessary precautions by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) that includes face masks and gloves, as well as by sanitizing surfaces. Service vehicles are treated daily with disinfection agents, Kaddour says.

The Cat dealer’s mission through the current crisis—‘If you are working, we are’—reflects the priority Al-Bahar has given to support its customers during these challenging times.

“Although our commitment to provide customer support remains unchanged, we know the way businesses will now function has changed,” Kaddour says. “Al-Bahar and Caterpillar are taking all necessary actions to provide uninterrupted access to the products and services our customers need to get the job done safely and effectively.”

Al-Bahar is meeting customer needs during the pandemic by providing services on a priority basis, online parts availability, fleet management, and help lines. A customer can also reach the dealer using any social media platform of their choosing.