Heerema to recycle Hermod crane vessel after 40 years in operation

Dutch marine contractor Heerema Marine Contractors is going to retire and recycle its semi-submersible crane vessel Hermod at the end of the year after nearly 40 years in operation.

Hermod and its sister vessel Balder, the first semi-submersible crane vessels of its kind in the offshore construction industry, were designed and constructed in the 1970s.

The semi-submersible concept was developed with the aim to extend the operability in the harsh North Sea environment and furthermore to deliver superior lifting capacity. HMC said that it allowed the company to work faster and during more months of the year than the conventional mono-hull crane vessels of the time.

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.

Until now, Hermod worked in more than 25 countries and was involved in several ‘first’ installation projects, like the first North Sea tension leg platform named Hutton in 1984, first deepwater foundation piles of the first TLP in the Gulf of Mexico (Auger), among others.

The heaviest lift performed by Hermod was the Peregrino topside in Brazil in 2010 with a dry weight of 6,287 mT.

HMC said on the 7^th September that the demolition of Hermod would be performed 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.

Demolition yard Zhoushan Changhong International Ship Recycling Company, China, will execute the recycling operation. According to the company, about 98 percent of the vessel materials will be recycled and reused.

Hermod will be transported to its final destination by the heavy transport vessel Dockwise Vanguard of Boskalis. Boskalis said earlier this week that the loading would take place in the coming days and the vessel was expected to depart shortly thereafter.

It is worth noting that HMC is currently 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.