 | |
 The current headquarters in Leiden, Netherlands | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Founder | Pieter Schelte Heerema |
| Headquarters | Vondellaan 47, , Netherlands |
Key people | |
| Parent | Heerema International Group Services SA |
| Website | https://hmc.heerema.com/ |
Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) is a contractor headquartered in the Netherlands most notable for operation of three of the largest crane vessels in the offshore industry. [1]
Heerema Marine Contractors was formed in 1948 by Pieter Schelte Heerema as a small construction company providing oilfield platforms in Venezuela.
In the 1960s the company focused on the North Sea offshore developments. The company developed crane vessels to lift large offshore platforms and modules. The ship shaped crane vessel Challenger was equipped to lift 800 t. [2]
The need for large stable crane vessels to operate in the North Sea environment lead the company to develop the first large semi-submersible crane vessels. In 1978, HMC commissioned Mitsui to construct the two sister semi-submersible crane vessels, DCV Balder and SSCV Hermod. These vessels could lift 5,400 tonnes with the twin cranes, and were later upgraded to 8,200 tonnes. [2]
In 1988 HMC formed a joint venture with McDermott called HeereMac. [3]
The SSCV Thialf was added to the HeereMac fleet, and upon the split of the companies in December 1997, Heerema took ownership of the Thialf, the largest deep water construction vessel and is capable of a tandem lift of 14,200 t (15,600 short tons)
The DCV Balder was affected by a flooding incident in 2006 and was put out of service for a few months. [4]
Heerema presently owns and operates the following crane vessels:
Plus a number of barges.
Offshore construction is the installation of structures and facilities in a marine environment, usually for the production and transmission of electricity, oil, gas and other resources. It is also called maritime engineering.
A semi-submersible platform is a specialised marine vessel used in offshore roles including as offshore drilling rigs, safety vessels, oil production platforms, and heavy lift cranes. They have good ship stability and seakeeping, better than drillships.
The Saipem 7000 is the world's third largest semi-submersible crane vessel, after the SSCV Sleipnir and the SSCV Thialf. It is owned by the oil and gas industry contractor Saipem S.p.A.
Seaspan ULC provides marine-related services to the Pacific Northwest. Within the Group are three shipyards, an intermodal ferry and car float business, along with a tug and barge transportation company that serves both domestic and international markets. Seaspan, is part of the Washington Companies that are owned by Dennis Washington. Kyle Washington, is the Executive Chairman of Seaspan, who has become a Canadian citizen.
The SSCV Thialf is a huge semi-submersible crane vessel operated by Heerema Marine Contractors, and it was the largest crane vessel in the world until the SSCV Sleipnir became the largest in 2019.
DCV Balder is a deepwater construction vessel (DCV) operated by Heerema Marine Contractors.
Ulstein Group is a group of companies that focus on various marine-related industries, but is mainly known for its shipbuilding and ship design activities. The largest unit is Ulstein Verft AS. The company's head office and primary operations are located in the town of Ulsteinvik in the municipality of Ulstein in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, an important area for the Norwegian maritime cluster, and with subsidiaries in several other countries. The group also includes companies working with power & control systems and solutions, engineering, site follow-up and aftermarket services. The company has also been engaged in shipping.
A crane vessel, crane ship, crane barge, or floating crane is a ship with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads, typically exceeding 1,500 t for modern ships. The largest crane vessels are used for offshore construction.
A jackup rig or a self-elevating unit is a type of mobile platform that consists of a buoyant hull fitted with a number of movable legs, capable of raising its hull over the surface of the sea. The buoyant hull enables transportation of the unit and all attached machinery to a desired location. Once on location the hull is raised to the required elevation above the sea surface supported by the sea bed. The legs of such units may be designed to penetrate the sea bed, may be fitted with enlarged sections or footings, or may be attached to a bottom mat. Generally jackup rigs are not self-propelled and rely on tugs or heavy lift ships for transportation.
Pioneering Spirit is a catamaran crane vessel owned by the Switzerland-based Allseas Group designed for the single-lift installation and removal of large oil and gas platforms and the installation of record-weight pipelines. The 382-metre-long (1,253 ft), 124-metre-wide (407 ft) vessel is the world's largest vessel by gross tonnage, and since September 2021 also the largest floating sheerleg in the world. It was built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2013 at a cost of €2.6 billion. It commenced offshore operations in August 2016.
A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normal ships. They are of two types:
International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is a leading international trade association for the marine contracting industry. It is a not for profit organisation with members representing the majority of worldwide marine contractors in the oil and gas and renewable energy industries.
Allseas Group S.A. is a Swiss-based offshore contractor specialising in pipelay, heavy lift and subsea construction. It was founded in 1985 by owner and president Edward Heerema, employs 4,000 people and operates worldwide.
Dockwise was a Netherlands-based holding company in the marine transport industry. It was acquired by Boskalis in 2013 and was merged into the Boskalis brand name in 2018.
SSCV Hermod was a semi-submersible crane vessel operated by Heerema Marine Contractors.
DCV Aegir is a deepwater construction vessel (DCV) owned by Heerema Marine Contractors and was christened during a festive ceremony in September 2013.
The Honghai Crane is a mobile gantry crane built by the Chinese Honghua Group. It was completed in Jiangsu in 2014, becoming the largest movable gantry crane by lift capacity, being capable of lifting 22,000 tonnes to a height of 65m.
Lanjing (蓝鲸) is a self-propelled, deep water crane vessel, owned by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the national oil exploration company of China, through its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary CNOOC Limited. Built in 2012, it is one of the six large crane barges owned by COOEC and CNOOC, namely HYSY201, HYSY 202, Lanjing, Blue Xinjiang, Binhai 109, HYSY286, HYSY289 and HYSY291.
SSCV Sleipnir is a semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV) owned and operated by Heerema Marine Contractors. It is named for Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse ridden by Odin in Norse mythology. The vessel is equipped with two revolving cranes built by Huisman Equipment B.V., each with a capacity of 10,000 t ; the main cranes can be operated in tandem to jointly lift 20,000 t. It was ordered in 2015 and built in Singapore by Sembcorp Marine. After its completion in 2019, SSCV Sleipnir succeeded Heerema's earlier SSCV Thialf as the largest crane vessel in the world.
