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The machine is a Kobelco SK850 transformed by Al Marwan Machinery, in Sharjah, which separates the house from the chassis and adds an elevated platform for the excavator to walk in the water. Certified by Kobelco itself, the company manufactures the long-reach booms in its workshop in the United Arab Emirates.
Building a port, a dock, or an artificial island usually stops at the water’s edge, but a modified Kobelco excavator in the United Arab Emirates was made precisely to go further and work in the sea. It is a Kobelco SK850 of about 85 tons, deeply altered by Al Marwan Machinery, a company in Sharjah that rents and customizes heavy equipment. The modification raises the cabin almost 3 meters above the chassis and installs a 22-meter long-reach boom.
The goal is clear: to raise maritime infrastructure without relying on barges or temporary landfills. According to Al Marwan, the machine was designed for port, dock, beach, breakwater, and coastal area recovery projects, fronts that require equipment capable of operating in a marine environment. It is part of a fleet of amphibious and high-platform excavators that the company has been assembling for coastal construction in the Gulf region.
The Kobelco monster that enters the sea
According to Al Marwan, the team separates the house from the lower chassis and installs a lifting structure, with platform and ladder, between the two, which raises the cabin and the arm of the machine.
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The specialized industry press reports that this elevation is between 2.5 and 3 meters above the standard height, enough for the excavator to walk in the water.
The numbers help to size the machine.
The long-reach boom is 22 meters, according to the manufacturer, and the factory chassis is maintained, with 1-meter-wide track shoes and a 7-meter base, ensuring stability when working in the water.
The bucket of this maritime configuration is smaller than the standard SK850, around 1.8 cubic meters, precisely because long booms require lighter buckets to respect load limits at the tip.
Equipped this way, the machine excavates in water depths of up to 3.5 meters.
Who is Al Marwan, the company behind the machines
The company has been operating in the Gulf region since 1978 and presents itself as one of the largest heavy equipment rental companies in the market, with thousands of machines in its catalog.
In addition to renting, it has been an official Kobelco dealer for over two decades and also works with brands like Komatsu and Caterpillar.
The difference lies in its own workshop.
According to Al Marwan, the company is certified by Kobelco to manufacture long-reach booms internally, assembling arms over 30 meters on request.
This engineering and manufacturing structure, at the industrial park in Sharjah, allows transforming standard machines into custom-made amphibious and high-platform excavators for each project.
The amphibious and long-reach fleet
Before reaching the high platform, the fleet has two other categories of excavators aimed at water.
The first is the long-reach, which works from the shore and extends the arm over the sea, like a Kobelco SK350 with a 20-meter reach.
Al Marwan removes the original boom and arm and installs the long-reach set that it manufactures internally.
The second is the amphibious excavator, exemplified by a Kobelco SK380 of about 40 tons, equipped with a 17-meter boom and satellite positioning technology.
In this case, the house is separated from the chassis and mounted on an amphibious undercarriage, which combines flotation and locomotion capability.
The structure is 5 meters wide when retracted and 7 meters when extended, with side stabilizers, and operates in water up to 4 meters deep.
One of these machines was used in the redevelopment of the Ajman Corniche waterfront, in the Persian Gulf.
How to build and transport such an excavator
Assembling a marine machine is an engineering task that goes beyond swapping parts.
Al Marwan cuts the Kobelco SK850 into two parts, fits the lifting structure with platform and ladder between the chassis and the house, manufactures the long-reach boom, and paints everything in its own workshop.
The result is a fully customized excavator, from height to reach, aimed at channels, ports, and landfills.
Transporting these giants is another challenge.
The high-platform excavator needs to be disassembled into three loads, one for the machine body, another for the elevated structure, and another for the tracks and the boom, arm, and bucket assembly.
The amphibious version requires two flatbed trailers. It is worth noting that this is a niche equipment, custom-made for Gulf coastal megaprojects, and that the gains in reach and access come at the cost of a smaller bucket.
The machines have already appeared in works such as the Al Layyah canal and the Al Dhaid lake in Sharjah, and in port projects in the region.
The Kobelco excavator that enters the sea in Sharjah is less of a curiosity and more a portrait of how engineering shapes itself to the ambition of projects.
Where there is a coastline being reinvented, with islands, ports, and channels emerging over the water, common machines gain elevated platforms, amphibious landing gears, and custom-made booms.
The case of Al Marwan shows that, often, innovation is not in a new machine, but in reinventing the existing one.
And you, have you ever seen an excavator capable of working with the cabin raised inside the ocean? Do you think this type of machine would make sense in Brazil’s coastal and port works? Leave your opinion in the comments, respecting different views, and share this article with those who like heavy machinery and engineering.
