The Framo story

The organization known today as Framo was founded as Frank Mohn AS in Bergen, Norway in 1938.

In the early years, Framo operated mainly as an importer of marine equipment to Norway. Following WWII, we began developing and manufacturing our own marine products, such as emergency generator sets for link communication and emergency firefighting pumps.

Framo’s international breakthrough came in the early 1960s, when we introduced the high-pressure, hydraulically driven marine pump. An innovation at the time, the application of hydraulic drive to marine pumps offered new advantages for ship owners and operators, such as low weight and stepless capacity control, with no risk of explosion. The first Framo hydraulic pump range consisted of dredge pumps, fish pumps and chemical pumps delivered as portable submersible units.

Decades of pioneering innovation

The chemical market expanded during the 1960s, and shipping methods changed to accommodate new demands. Liquid chemical cargoes, previously handled in drums, were now shipped in bulk tanks. Working closely with our customers, Framo introduced the concept of one fixed, installed submerged pump for each cargo tank. This was the beginning of what became Framo’s main operation in the 1970s – a total cargo handling system for tankers of all kinds.

As the offshore market has grown in later decades, Framo has placed a greater focus on developing high tech equipment for this segment. By adapting our innovations to marine applications, we have made substantial contributions to successful oil field developments in the harsh environment of the North Sea.

Still based in Norway, Framo today is a worldwide organization with around 1200 employees. With our long history of innovation and close cooperation with our customers, we have gained a reputation as a world-leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of submerged pumping solutions for the shipping, offshore and oil and gas industries.