MORE ABOUT VAHANIAN, BOAT EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER IN CANNES

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE COMPANY: BOAT SALES, EQUIPMENT AND REPAIRS

In 1933, Stéphan Vahanian settled down at 19 quai St Pierre in Cannes under the sign ” Electromarine – service and electrical repair for the navy “. Its activity interrupted during the war resumed in 1945.

The world’s leading pleasure yacht builder Chris Craft USA entrusts him with the exclusive representation for the south of France for the sale of boat equipment. Very anxious to bring a total service, he becomes the dealer of the only crane of the port of Cannes located at the end of the Laubeuf quay, equips himself with a Dodge 4X4 truck, builds a special trailer intended to transport the Chris Craft up to 11 meters.

During the 1950’s, he builds a first boat garage at 10 Vallombrosa boulevard in Cannes, then a second one at n°13.

As he wished it, the total service it will be, the sale of material of boat Chris Craft, the service, the transport, the electric repair mechanical, wintering and guarding of nearly 100 units. This service will cover the French Riviera.

In the 1960s, the population of pleasure yachts, imported mainly from the USA and Italy, grew rapidly. These 11 to 40 meter yachts were equipped with diesel engines built by Detroit Diesel Allison, a division of General Motors – the world’s leading company. And the service for these units becomes essential during and after the warranty period.

This is when a major decision will be made. Importers and builders of yachts equipped with Detroit Diesel engines became customers of Electromarine, which also sold boats and became their competitor. In 1962, the sale of boats will be abandoned to fully dedicate itself to the service activity of Detroit Diesel engines under the name “Vahanian”.

TO BECOME A RENOWNED EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER IN THE MARINE AND INDUSTRIAL SECTORS

In 1974, in the industrial area of Cannes La Bocca, vast premises will be built on the Detroit Diesel model of the American concessions. On nearly 1500m² will be grouped all the services: sale of engines, sale of spare parts, import and sale of equipments, marine and industrial breakdown service, engine rebuilding, the whole animated by a team of nearly thirty employees. Vahanian even finished as the best French Detroit Diesel dealer in the 90s.

The Detroit Diesel Vahanian repair shop closed in 1994, the company is now solely dedicated to the supply of parts and equipment.

The core business of the company, for more than 80 years we have been recognized as an equipment supplier to the marine industry. Our product range covers the entire engine environment but also generators, gyroscopes and thrusters.

We have established a relationship of trust with the brands we work with today. The quality of the products we offer has been recognized for many years. We have also relied on flexible brands, listening to the needs of our customers, capable of adapting to the complexity of the requests by customizing their products to the maximum.

DIVERSIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT SALES SECTORS

At the end of the 90’s, Vahanian company is more and more oriented towards the industrial world:

  • Generators
  • Agricultural machines
  • Road transport

From 2010, the company has also been interested in public markets:

  • Army
  • Energy

Since 1998, the Angelo family has taken over the management of the Vahanian company in order to continue this beautiful adventure, still in Cannes. We are present in the commercial marine, the yachting, on the machines of public works, the agricultural machines, the heavy goods vehicles, the generating sets. We are also the exclusive distributor for France of SEPAR® filters, CENTEK® exhausts and NJORD decontamination systems, Tohmei gyroscopes, Coelmo generators.

Our products are used in many sectors all over the world. Do not hesitate to visit our Products pages (Boat engine, parts, material…) as well as our projects references which are below: you will see all our articles as well as their fields of application.

DISCOVER OUR PROJECTS…

The company’s growth has always been focused on the nautical industry, but over the years our products, our offers and our customers have evolved. Today we accompany all types of customers and the share of turnover in the industry is in constant growth.

Our experience has allowed us to diversify our activity and to develop more and more towards the industry. A large presentation of our project references can be found below: you will find a large part of our achievements outside the nautical industry, by sectors of activity.

Over time and thanks to our suppliers and customers, we have therefore developed prototypes, which were then mass-produced in order to meet the very specific demand of our industrial prospects. We were thus able to conquer new markets:

  • Energy with generator manufacturers, nuclear power plant maintenance, power plant maintenance.
  • Institutions with the army, the national navy, customs.
  • IT with the management of data centers, via their maintenance company around all that is generator and purification of emergency tanks.

Today many companies make sure to have electricity by equipping themselves with generators, on the other hand these same companies do not always make sure to have quality fuel and to maintain the quality of this fuel. in time. Sometimes, in the event of a cut, it happens that the groups do not start due to the poor quality of the fuel. Our complete and autonomous systems make it possible to avoid 100% of this type of problem.

The SEPAR, Algae-X and NJORD ranges have enabled us to open up these markets thanks also to the quality of the products, but also to their ability to adapt and acquire options that are very specific to the constraints of our customers.