Heerema Marine Contractor’s semi-submersible crane vessel Hermod will retire at the end of this year after an operational performance of nearly 40 years.
Designed and constructed in the 70’s, Hermod and its sister vessel Balder were the first semi-submersible crane vessels of its kind in the offshore construction industry, the company said.
After delivery by the Japanese Mitsui yard in 1978, Hermod’s first job was the installation of the Piper A platform on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf. The vessel executed its first project outside the North Sea in Brazil in the mid-eighties, followed by projects in the Gulf of Mexico, South East Asia and Africa.
Throughout its career, Hermod worked in more than 25 countries.
The demolition of Hermod will be performed at the Chinese demolition yard Zhoushan Changhong International Ship Recycling Company in a safe and responsible way, in accordance with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships and in line with the European Union Ship Recycling Regulation, Heerema noted.
About 98% of the vessel materials will be recycled and re-used. Hermod will be transported to its final destination on the heavy transport vessel Dockwise Vanguard of Boskalis.
“We wish to bring a thankful salute to our Hermod and all of our colleagues involved in working on and with it, presently and in the past, being grateful for an exceptional contribution to the offshore construction industry in general and our company in particular,” Heerema said.
While Hermod will be retiring from service, HMC is at the same time constructing the “world’s largest” semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir in Singapore. Sleipnir has a 2 x 10,000 mT lifting capacity and is due to come into service in 2019.