Allseas founder stepping down as president after almost four decades at the helm

Offshore contractor Allseas has revealed that its founder and current president, Edward Heerema, has decided to hand over the reins to his eldest son. The latter is expected to build on his father’s legacy.

While announcing that Edward Heerema was stepping aside as the president of the Allseas Group after nearly four decades in the role, Allseas disclosed that his eldest son, Pieter Heerema, who joined Allseas in 2011 and served as Vice President, would assume the role.

However, the founder of Allseas will remain as chairman and concentrate on developing and integrating new technological developments. The offshore contractor confirmed on Friday that the “milestone moment” in the firm’s history was officially announced on 15 September at a ceremony in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Pieter Heerema, Allseas’ incoming president, stated: “My father’s vision, daring and skill has been instrumental in Allseas’ success and growth. He made Allseas great by pioneering ideas and making them work. That is the DNA of Allseas.”

After launching Allseas back in 1985, Edward Heerema built the company into “a global offshore contractor,” and his contributions to offshore marine construction have been “paramount,” according to Allseas. Moreover, Heerema developed the concept of dynamically positioned subsea pipelay with the introduction of the firm’s first vessel Lorelay. The company also underlined that pipeline installation was pushed into “unchartered waters,” following the emergence of Solitaire in 1998, enabling operators to develop “previously inaccessible” ultra-deepwater assets.

Commenting on this, Edward Heerema, founder and current president of Allseas, remarked: “Founding and building Allseas took an enormous amount of creativity, energy and perseverance. My ideas were sometimes doubted, but I was always determined to succeed. Over these many years, we established Allseas as a reliable contractor, with a reputation of changing the industry through innovation and pioneering spirit.”

Furthermore, Allseas claims that Edward Heerema realised “a lifetime vision” in 2016 with the launch of the world’s largest construction vessel Pioneering Spirit, equipped with motion-compensated and single-lift technology, which “revolutionized the offshore heavy lift industry.”

“The work we do, day in day out, is my ultimate passion. Allseas’ hallmarks, pipelay and heavy lift, will remain. Positioning ourselves in new markets will help secure our future. I look forward to building on my father’s many successes as we move forward into new, exciting times,” added Pieter Heerema.

When it comes to Allseas’ latest activities, it is worth noting that the offshore contractor is in the process of completing its scope of work in the Tyra redevelopment project by delivering the final load of decommissioned offshore facilities to a recycling yard, using its Pioneering Spirit vessel.

Following the removal of these jackets, Pioneering Spirit has removed more than 35,000 tonnes of offshore facilities from the Tyra field.