Allseas / Company / History

Timeline

  • Pioneering Spirit completes the safe single-lift removal of the 31,000-tonne Brent Charlie platform from the North Sea.
  • Construction of Allseas’ new cargo barge Braveheart officially started on 10 July at the CIMC Changhong shipyard in Zhoushan, China
  • Allseas awarded the installation of the pipeline and integrated structures for the second development stage of Equinor’s Troll Phase 3 project.
  • Audacia successfully completed the 262-kilometre Barossa gas export pipeline in the southern Timor Sea
  • Allseas has been contracted for the transport and installation (T&I) of two major substations (so called OSS) for the Gennaker offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea.
  • Pioneering Spirit has successfully executed her first pipeline pull-ins in completing the nearshore pipelay scope for the new Statpipe landfall approach at Kalstø, Norwa
  • Audacia has successfully installed her largest ever PLET in S-mode
  • First commercial project for our newly converted shallow-water pipelay barge, Sandpiper, following successful sea trials off Johor, Malaysia.
  • Pioneering Spirit completed the infield pipelay scope for bp’s ultra-deepwater GTA liquified natural gas  project offshore Mauritania and Senegal.

2024

  • Awarded multiple T&I contracts for offshore wind industry (incl. 15 slots for TenneT’s ambitious 2GW programme)
  • Launch of second shallow water pipelay barge Sandpiper
  • Completes first project in Sawarkian waters, offshore Malaysia
  • Selected as replacement contractor for bp’s ultra-deepwater GTA pipeline
  • Successful offshore debut for in-house AUT system Dolphin

2023

  • Allseas celebrates its 37th anniversary
  • Pioneering Spirit‘s  Jacket lift system enters the final installation phase
  • Pioneering Spirit  executes first successful project, the removal of the Ninian Northern jacket with revolutionary Jacket lift system
  • Successful Atlantic ultra-deepwater tests for Allseas’ mineral collector
  • Catchy 2, Allseas’ latest river waste removal system inaugurated in Rotterdam
  • Pioneering Spirit  completes 30,000-tonne Gyda platform removal
  • Pioneering Spirit  installs jacket and topsides of DolWin kappa offshore converter station
  • Allseas founder Edward Heerema steps aside as President. Eldest son Pieter will assume the role of President of the Allseas Group
  • First deep-sea polymetallic nodules surface after 4 kilometre journey
  • Allseas opens office in Malaysia

2022

  • Allseas’ president Edward Heerema receives the OTC Heritage award for his “long-term continuous, distinguished service in management and leadership of offshore installation for the deepwater industry”.
  • Pioneering Spirit  executes the single-lift removal of the former DP3 gas production topsides from Spirit Energy’s Morecambe Bay development in the East Irish Sea.
  • Pioneering Spirit  crane-lifts the 2500-t Valhall QP lower jacket.
  • Pioneering Spirit  delivers the new module for CNOOC International’s Buzzard Phase II development in the North Sea’s Outer Moray Firth, east of Scotland.
  • Pioneering Spirit  installs a high-voltage convertor platform for the Saint-Nazaire offshore windfarm development in the Bay of Biscay.
  • Pioneering Spirit  surpassed the 200,000 tonne mark for lifted platform weight.
  • The two steel beams for Pioneering Spirit’s  new Jacket lift system (JLS) arrive in Rotterdam.
  • Pioneering Spirit  installs the offshore transformer station of the Hollandse Kust (zuid) Alpha platform in the North Sea.

2021

  • Allseas celebrates its 35th anniversary
  • Pioneering Spirit  removes Shell UK’s 17,000-tonne Brent Alpha platform from the North Sea
  • Pioneering Spirit  completes a successful processing and accommodation topsides and flare jackets removal campaign as part of the Tyra Redevelopment Project for Total E&P Denmark
  • Pioneering Spirit  lifts the Ninian Northern topside of the North Sea’s 14,200 t
  • Allseas installs river waste collection system “Catchy” in the Vijfsluizer harbour in Schiedam

2020

  • Gates open at Allseas’ new state-of-the-art fabrications yard in Heijningen, the Netherlands
  • With all major fabrication scopes awarded, in January production starts on key elements of Pioneering Spirit‘s  Jacket Lift System
  • Lorelay  executes four above water tie-ins in the Black Sea – an industry first for a dynamically positioned pipelay vessel
  • Pioneering Spirit  sets offshore lift record during Johan Sverdrup P1 and LQ topsides installation offshore Norway

2019

  • Allseas adds state-of-the-art multipurpose offshore construction vessel Fortitude  to its fleet
  • Pioneering Spirit  executes the single-lift installation of Equinor’s 22,000 t Johan Sverdrup DP topsides on its jacket offshore Norway​
  • Pioneering Spirit  completes the record-breaking TurkStream pipeline a month ahead of schedule
  • Construction starts on Nord Stream 2, the longest pipeline in Allseas’ history
  • 2018 is a record year for Allseas, with 2500 km of pipeline installed

2018

2017

2016

  • Pioneering Spirit  arrives in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 8 January 2015
  • Statoil awards Allseas an installation contract for three topsides for the Johan Sverdrup field in the Norwegian North Sea
  • Pioneering Spirit  christened in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 27 February 2015
  • Allseas celebrates its 30th anniversary

2015

2014

  • Allseas announces plans to build Amazing Grace, a single-lift vessel larger than Pioneering Spirit
  • Opens a new fabrication yard in Heusden, the Netherlands
  • Shell awards Allseas the contract for removal of the Brent field platforms

2013

  • Allseas opens fabrication a yard in IJmuiden, the Netherlands, and an Innovations office in Eindhoven, the Netherlands

2012

  • Allseas acquires long-time Dutch supplier Machinefabriek Schaap
  • First steel cut for Pioneering Spirit  at the Daewoo shipyard

2011

2010

2009

  • Allseas installs 150 km of umbilical on the Reliance KGD6 project offshore India
  • Becomes the world’s first vessel owner to equip its fleet with heavy arms in protection of its crew

2008

2007

  • Audacia  conversion gets underway in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
  • Solitaire  and  Lorelay  set new depth records, laying 8-inch and 10-inch pipes in 2775 m and a 24-inch pipe in 2550 m water depth in the Gulf of Mexico

2006

  • Calamity Jane  conversion commences in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
  • 10,000 km of pipeline laid and 2800 km trenched since 1986
  • Solitaire  undergoes a major upgrade to increase her pipelay capability for greater water depths and heavier pipes

2005

  • Execution of first project in the Persian Gulf

2004

  • Allseas opens office in Perth, Australia
  • Solitaire  sets a new world record, laying 9.3 km of 20-inch pipe in 24 hours

2003

  • Allseas develops a dual-head welding system for Phoenix
  • Tog Mor  lays her first pipe, offshore Ireland
  • Solitaire  sets a new depth record on the Shell Nakika project, reaching 1920 m

2002

  • Tog Mor  conversion gets underway in Rotterdam

2001

  • Execution of first project offshore South East Asia

2000

  • Execution of first project offshore Canada
  • Contractor with highest number of kilometers of pipe installed in the Gulf of Mexico in this year

1999

  • Solitaire  completes her first project: Statoil Europipe II in the North Sea

1998

  • Solitaire  christened, becoming the largest pipelay vessel in the world

1997

  • Lorelay  sets a new world record for deepwater pipeline installation, laying a 12-inch rigid steel pipe in 1650 m of water for Shell on the Mensa project
  • Solitaire  arrives in Newcastle for completion

1996

  • Lorelay  lays the Auger pipeline for Shell, her first deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico
  • 2000 km pipeline laid and over 1000 km trenched since 1986

1995

  • Allseas opens a USA office in Houston, USA

1994

  • Allseas’ automatic welding system Phoenix, developed wholly in-house, becomes operational
  • Solitaire  conversion gets underway in Singapore

1993

  • Purchase of Trentwood  for conversion to Solitaire
  • Opening of the Delft office

1992

  • Lorelay  lays the Santa Ynez pipeline for Exxon offshore California in the Pacific Ocean, Allseas’ first USA project

1991

  • Opens office in Essen, Belgium

1990

  • Allseas launches Trenchsetter, a DP support vessel for Allseas’ mechanical subsea pipeline trencher Digging Donald
  • Allseas executes the Mossgas project in South Africa, Allseas’ first contract outside the North Sea

1989

  • Allseas acquires a prominent position in the North Sea pipelay market

1988

  • Allseas launches the concept for Pioneering Spirit, a platform installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel

1987

  • Lorelay  executes Allseas’ first pipelay contract, for Unocal in the North Sea

1986

  • Allseas, founded in January 1985,  opens offices in Châtel Saint-Denis, Switzerland, and The Hague, the Netherlands
  • Allseas invents the concept of pipelaying on DP (dynamic positioning)  and builds Lorelay, the world’s first DP pipelay vessel

1985