# Offshore heavy lift ships



## paul rennison

During the 1970's I worked for about 6 years in the Norwegian sector of the North sea, Mostly in the Ekofisk field, but also in Stavanger Fijord on the construction of the Beryl A & Brent B "Condeep" platforms, There were a number of Heavy lift crane barges or converted tankers in use out there and I wondered if any of the Guys in SN have any pics & details of their dimensions, max lifts etc.
The ones I remember are Challenger (Hereema I think) Micoperi 26 ( Italian converted tanker) & Blue Whale.
Thanks in advance
Rennop (Thumb)


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## gdynia

paul rennison said:


> During the 1970's I worked for about 6 years in the Norwegian sector of the North sea, Mostly in the Ekofisk field, but also in Stavanger Fijord on the construction of the Beryl A & Brent B "Condeep" platforms, There were a number of Heavy lift crane barges or converted tankers in use out there and I wondered if any of the Guys in SN have any pics & details of their dimensions, max lifts etc.
> The ones I remember are Challenger (Hereema I think) Micoperi 26 ( Italian converted tanker) & Blue Whale.
> Thanks in advance
> Rennop (Thumb)


Paul
I work mainly for Heerema and in my Gallery you will find alot of photos of these vessels which feel free to use. If you do a Google search on Heerema their website gives all the info


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## sam2182sw

hi GDYINAitis sam here iremember the CHALANGER comming to our yard in the HUMBER shw was a converted T2 tanker by was she big at the time 300 tons lift every body that was in ship repair turned out to see her she came down to pick up an accomadtion unit that we had built at the old DRYPOOL SHIP REPAIRES we loaded it on the crane barge sea fastened to ti and of she went to the north sea next day we recived a phone call in the office can we build another one thay had droped it in the ogging i have a photo of her and on it is all the dinmationsi will get it out and let you have it sam


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## treeve

Hi Paul ...
Challenger on my page of Heerema 

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~treevecwll/anc8.htm


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## gdynia

sam2182sw said:


> hi GDYINAitis sam here iremember the CHALANGER comming to our yard in the HUMBER shw was a converted T2 tanker by was she big at the time 300 tons lift every body that was in ship repair turned out to see her she came down to pick up an accomadtion unit that we had built at the old DRYPOOL SHIP REPAIRES we loaded it on the crane barge sea fastened to ti and of she went to the north sea next day we recived a phone call in the office can we build another one thay had droped it in the ogging i have a photo of her and on it is all the dinmationsi will get it out and let you have it sam


Sam
Cheers for that. She went out of service quite awhile back. Theres actually a model of her in Heeremas Office in Holland will get a photo next time in.


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## RayJordandpo

*Brown and Root*

I remember in the late sixties there was crane barge called 'Atlas' owned by Brown and Root. It did not have a crane as such but a large 'A Frame' over the stern. During a lifting operation in the North Sea some of the falls fouled and jammed the main block rendering the A Frame useless. They could neither lift or lower the module ( I believe it was part of a platform accommodation block). The solution they came up with was rather ingenious. A sister barge (I think it was the 'Hercules') went into the River Humber inside Spurn Bight and piled in a temporary platform. With the aid of tugs the 'Atlas' manoeuvred over platform at high water. As the tide dropped the module sat on the platform slackening the jammed wires. At low tide the lift was able to be unshackled and released. That Jacket (platform) was still in place for quite some time before being finally removed .
rayjordandpo


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## gdynia

RayJordandpo said:


> I remember in the late sixties there was crane barge called 'Atlas' owned by Brown and Root. It did not have a crane as such but a large 'A Frame' over the stern. During a lifting operation in the North Sea some of the falls fouled and jammed the main block rendering the A Frame useless. They could neither lift or lower the module ( I believe it was part of a platform accommodation block). The solution they came up with was rather ingenious. A sister barge (I think it was the 'Hercules') went into the River Humber inside Spurn Bight and piled in a temporary platform. With the aid of tugs the 'Atlas' manoeuvred over platform at high water. As the tide dropped the module sat on the platform slackening the jammed wires. At low tide the lift was able to be unshackled and released. That Jacket (platform) was still in place for quite some time before being finally removed .
> rayjordandpo


Ray

A website about her

http://www.barthel-sohn.de/atlas_e.htm


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## Rennie Cameron

I was visiting Balder in Singapore circa 1996 and the Challenger was tied aft being stripped of wrodly possessions. Most had gone and after that so did the Challenger for scrap. The units used on (I recall) the Forties Field went to Mexico where they/it still works. The Tolteca was one. I was Editor when OPL did the first Offshore vesel series and I included her in "Construction Vessels of the World". That was totally accurate on the first edition. Message me if you wanr an extract but better you maybe check the latest book yourself first. I would hazard a guess that a newbuild craneship (DP3) building in Singapore is being viewed as a replacement aimed at Mexico. Netherlands Offshore owned the now Tolteca and somewhere there is a website dedicated to NOL by ex employees. Trust this might help your research


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## GALTRA

gdynia, I worked on the Atlas 1 in the 70's but never came across the Atlas mentioned here. Was she the same barge hull or differant vessel? Atlas1 and Hercules had American 509 cranes with boom-rest com wheelhouse foward. Charley


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## gdynia

Charley
It was a different crane vessel/Heavy Lift Barge


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## jjdegruijter

RayJordandpo said:


> I remember in the late sixties there was crane barge called 'Atlas' owned by Brown and Root. It did not have a crane as such but a large 'A Frame' over the stern. During a lifting operation in the North Sea some of the falls fouled and jammed the main block rendering the A Frame useless. They could neither lift or lower the module ( I believe it was part of a platform accommodation block). The solution they came up with was rather ingenious. A sister barge (I think it was the 'Hercules') went into the River Humber inside Spurn Bight and piled in a temporary platform. With the aid of tugs the 'Atlas' manoeuvred over platform at high water. As the tide dropped the module sat on the platform slackening the jammed wires. At low tide the lift was able to be unshackled and released. That Jacket (platform) was still in place for quite some time before being finally removed .
> rayjordandpo


I was on board the Atlas during the accident as a mechanic. When they were hoisting the package with the accomodation of Conoco 1. We operated with to blocks driven by two steam engines one of the steam winches was in lowering position while hoisting. The steam engine blew up and we lost the accomodation the rest of the package was hanging in one block. As soon as we could we went to the Humber towed by one of the tugs of United Towing. I remember the captain his first name was Jack. During the trip I called him several times because the package was hitting the A-frame very bad because of a gail. The frame was damaged so bad that it had to be scrapped when we returned in Rotterdam. In Rotterdam a revolving crane was mounted from Americain Hoist.

Sjaak


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## RayJordandpo

The skipper's name was Jack Golden, He emigrated to South Africa were he became master of the salvage tug 'John Ross' Sadly he passed away a few years later
Ray Jordan


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## RayJordandpo

jjdegruijter.
Hi,
I see you were on the 'Atlas' when she was involved in building oil jetties in Ireland. Could that have been Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay? I was on the United Towing tug 'Masterman' running anchors for the 'Atlas' at that location. The year was 1968
Ray Jordan


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## jjdegruijter

RayJordandpo said:


> jjdegruijter.
> Hi,
> I see you were on the 'Atlas' when she was involved in building oil jetties in Ireland. Could that have been Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay? I was on the United Towing tug 'Masterman' running anchors for the 'Atlas' at that location. The year was 1968
> Ray Jordan


Hi,
Yes indeed it was Whiddy Island in Bantry bay. I also remeber another captain whose name was Sid. I was several times on the Masterman.

Sjaak


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## RayJordandpo

The skipper of the 'Masterman' was Sid Hawkings, well in his seventies now but still enjoying his pint and ciggies. The mate was Fred Fletcher, sadly passed away. I really enjoyed that job in Bantry Bay, we often got ashore for a few pints of Guinness. it was money for old rope. I remember an American crane driver on the 'Atlas' called Pete, he often came on board for a beer. As I recall he had a badly deformed hand but it didn't stop him doing his job.
Ray Jordan


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## jjdegruijter

The name of the cranedriver, later he became a superintendent, was Pete Niess. He went with us to Okinawa to built another oil jetty for Gulf oil. I don't know what became of him. He was e really nice guy. One time when we were in the docks of Hull I went with Sid to the pub he always went to, I believe it was akind of United Towing pub, but I forgot the name.


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## RayJordandpo

The pub was called Manchester (Manny) Arms. More towing and anchor handling performed in there then at sea. There was no such thing as a quiet pint in that establishment, you would be knackered rigging towing gear over a pint of beer! By the way I recall an Irish Captain on the Atlas with the surname of Kennedy, all these names are coming back to me now and it was almost forty years ago!
Ray Jordan


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## jjdegruijter

I was on board the Atlas when they built the temporary platform. When they wer unloading the package something went wrong and one of the tugs nearly went down. I don't know which tug. Yes I remember captain Kennedy as I remeber a lot of guys. I was looking on the internet if I could find Pete Neis and I believe I did find him. He now is 77 years old and lives in Humble Texas.

Sjaak (nickname was snoopy)


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## RayJordandpo

I remember the accident when the tug got into bother. I can't her remember the name at the moment but it will come back to me. (Tradesman, Merchantman, Masterman?) She got caught in the strong tides of the Humber and got trapped under the platform nearly causing a capsize. The skipper (Charlie Noble) ended up in the water, Charlie was a very strong swimmer indeed but the tide was racing and the water freezing. He woke up in Grimsby hospital, a very lucky man indeed to survive that little incident
Ray Jordan


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## GALTRA

jjdegruijter said:


> I was on board the Atlas when they built the temporary platform. When they wer unloading the package something went wrong and one of the tugs nearly went down. I don't know which tug. Yes I remember captain Kennedy as I remeber a lot of guys. I was looking on the internet if I could find Pete Neis and I believe I did find him. He now is 77 years old and lives in Humble Texas.
> 
> Sjaak (nickname was snoopy)


 Hi there Snoopy, been a long time. Remember this photo? You and I on top of the crane in the middle of the Indian Ocean on the tow to Okinawa. I think Meindert de Vries took it. Next day he got angry and exposed a film in my camera because I took a photo of him asleep on the catwalk.. We had good times on that trip. Niall Kennedy later went to the North Slope, Alaska with Santa Fe but developed a heart condition and had to retire. He and his wife Meave bought a very nice little appartment house in Dalkey, Dublin but before he could enjoy his retirement he suddenly got a massive heart attack and died . She died a few months later. I agree with you about Pete Neis, he was one nice guy. He was the only one to offer his sympathies to me when I learned that my father had died two weeks previously while in Okinawa, and the only one to show his appreciation when I volunteered to stay on board and do anchor watch on my own on Christmas Day in Labuan. He sent out a bottle of whiskey to me. But really they where all pretty nice guys. I often think of Bo, Peanuts, Rama,storeman Fred, Gordan (dead), Richardo, Jose, Mr Kelly the welder foreman, etc. Good to see you are still with us, all the best, Charley


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## jjdegruijter

Hi there Charley,
The reason I found this site because I was interested in what happend to the Atlas. But I can't find any trace of her. Some time ago somebody told me she was scrapped. After Okinawa I left the company because the barge was laid up in Singapore and I did not like that because they cut down the 12 hour shifts to 8 hours. How long did you work for the company after Okinawa?
Yes I also remember a lot of the guys and I had a great time. The first mat of the Zwarte Zee ( the tug that towed us to Okinawa) now lives Close to me he is now a retired captain.
Nice to hear from you Charley


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## GALTRA

http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6162265 Hi Snoopy, Check this site, I'm not sure but I think it could be the same ATLAS1 that is mentioned. I too looked to see what had become of her a few months ago and apart from the attached all I could find was that she had gone to the Gulf of Mexico and was listed by Llyod's Register as working there in 1982/83. She was still listed in 1984 but did not say where she was working. It seems that she may have been fitted with a dynamic positioning system in May 1984 but what happened after I'm not sure. A friend of mine who worked with Brown and Root about 10 years ago thought she was scrapped. I stayed out there on the Atlas 1 working in Java, Brunei, and Labuan for another year or so and then joined Kennedy and a few others in the North Sea as freelancing consultants on oil platforms, ship conversions and anything we could get. The last job I had was the best paid most boring, as on-site inspector for Shell on the Challenger 1 which had been chartered and sublet by them to Philips . i ate a lot of smoked eels on there. I then came home and took a temporary job with the harbour here, but got to like being home and stayed on till I retired four years ago. Charley


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## RayJordandpo

Does anyone remember the 'Global Adventurer'? she was a crane barge for Brown and Root in the sixties and seventies. I believe she was a converted tanker. I worked with her in Angola (Cabinda) in 1969. The superintendant was an American called Johnny Pyle and most of the deck crew were American. There was a lot of accidents on board at that time, I recall a deck foreman losing his life in an accident on deck. A welder was killed whilst working overside and quite a few were killed or injured when faulty gas bottles blew up. I was on an anchor handling tug called 'Tradesman'
Ray Jordan


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## gdynia

Ray

Check this out she was the ex Norwegian Tanker Sunnaas converted by Heerema

http://books.google.com/books?id=TW...sig=PaXsVP3nPtT7PANwKfpixlV90ns#PRA1-PA208,M1


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## GALTRA

Yes Ray I remember the Global Adventurer and the gas explosion on her. Some where I have a photo of her showing the front of the bridge damage etc. She was scrapped some time ago and again I have the details of that somewhere. Gdynia, Thanks for the link to the info. on B and R, etc. Lots of old names and memories in it, those were the pioneering days, I don't think Health and Safety or the Red Tape guys would allow it to happen these days. Charley


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## jjdegruijter

I remember the Global Adventurer. It was the m.t. Sunnaas a tanker from 
'52-'63. Built in Dundee by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engeneering Co.Ltd. Sold in'63 to GlobalOffshore Structures Ltd, Willemstad-N.A.(Heerema Engeneering.
Converted to craneship by Verolme Rozenburg Netherlands, renamed Global Adventurer. In 1964 she built the REM island (A pirate music station) just in front of the dutch coast. Sold to Brown & Root in 1967 and in 1975 sold for scrap to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. I have got a picture but don't know how to attach it.

Sjaak


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## jjdegruijter

Ray,
It was the Masterman and the ship was the Glabal Adventurer. I found a newspaper article in my photo album.
Sjaak


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## RayJordandpo

Sjaak,
Yes I remember now, it was the Masterman, a nice little tug and always well looked after. I enjoyed working with the 'Global Adventurer' they were a good bunch of lads.
Ray Jordan


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## DxbBob

*Response to Paul Rennison’s post of 28/07/2006*



paul rennison said:


> During the 1970's I worked for about 6 years in the Norwegian sector of the North sea, Mostly in the Ekofisk field, but also in Stavanger Fijord on the construction of the Beryl A & Brent B "Condeep" platforms, There were a number of Heavy lift crane barges or converted tankers in use out there and I wondered if any of the Guys in SN have any pics & details of their dimensions, max lifts etc.
> The ones I remember are Challenger (Hereema I think) Micoperi 26 ( Italian converted tanker) & Blue Whale.
> Thanks in advance
> Rennop (Thumb)


Re. your post “Offshore heavy lift ships”
From January 1967 to April 1973 I worked for a small U.S. offshore construction company called Ingram Contractors, Inc. During that period, Ingram formed a joint venture with Italian salvage and marine contractor Micoperi S.p.A. to pursue North Sea work opportunities. The only work I recall that JV performing was very early installation work in Ekofisk field for Phillips. Such work was performed by Micoperi crane (dumb) barge PM-24 (“PM” stood for “Payardi Micoperi”). I don’t clearly recall the companies from whom Ingram Micoperi JV spot-chartered anchor handling tugs for PM-24; I suspect they were Nolty J Theriot Offshore of Golden Meadow, Louisiana, USA, URS of Antwerp, Smit-Lloyd of Rotterdam, and United Towing Ltd. of Hull. 
I will attach what pictures I have of the PM-24, sorry I don’t have any photos of her when she was on location.
Do you have any recollection of PM-24? 
PM-24 was born as a standard 10,470 GT type T2-SE-A2 tanker. Her keel was laid May 8, 1944, she was launched July 4, 1944, completed in August 1944, and delivered to the U.S. War Shipping Admin. in San Francisco as MISSION SANTA MARIA. 
After WW2 she was acquired by various civilian owners ten times. The transactions relevant to this message are shown below: 
Sale (3)	To Aurora Compagnia Navegacion, Panama, in 1950. She was renamed JOHN. In 1951 she was rebuilt to 544.9 ft. LOA and 11,625 GT’
Sale (9) To Galeta Ocean Equipment & Shipping Co., Panama (a Micoperi company), in 1969. She was renamed GALETA. In 1970 she was converted to a 7,892 GT crane barge, hence the reduction of 3,733 in her GT, i.e. from 11, 625 to 7,892. 
Sale (10) To Payardi Shipping & Contractor Co, Panama (a Micoperi company), in 1971. She was renamed SEPT ILES.
Sale (11) She was delivered by Payardi for scrapping at Sveti Kajo, Split, Splitsko-Dalmatinska, Croatia, in Dec. 1972.
As far as Ingram Micoperi JV personnel were concerned, the vessel was known as “PM-24”: I have no idea where the name SEPT ILES (as shown in historical files) comes from. 
I recall there was a fire aboard PM-24 while she was in port in Rotterdam, I think, back in 1971. Although the fire was relatively minor from a structural perspective (it arose in a walk-in chill box full of vegetables and was confined to the galley), two American project engineers died in their sleep from suffocation in thick smoke picked up in the ship’s HVAC system and carried into the crew accommodation spaces. The tragedy convinced our JV partner, Micoperi, to finally agree to ban alcoholic beverages from the PM-24, the investigation having concluded that beer consumed by the engineers with their 3rd meal (supper) caused them to sleep more soundly than normal and, therefore, they did not awake and evacuate as their compartment filled with the toxic smoke. Prior to that accident, crew aboard the barge were having beer and liqueurs with meals and the topside construction hands had a BOLS bar set up in the “tub” under the derrick crane!


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## helgex

DxbBob said:


> *Response to Paul Rennison’s post of 28/07/2006*
> 
> 
> 
> Re. your post “Offshore heavy lift ships”
> From January 1967 to April 1973 I worked for a small U.S. offshore construction company called Ingram Contractors, Inc. During that period, Ingram formed a joint venture with Italian salvage and marine contractor Micoperi S.p.A. to pursue North Sea work opportunities. The only work I recall that JV performing was very early installation work in Ekofisk field for Phillips. Such work was performed by Micoperi crane (dumb) barge PM-24 (“PM” stood for “Payardi Micoperi”). I don’t clearly recall the companies from whom Ingram Micoperi JV spot-chartered anchor handling tugs for PM-24; I suspect they were Nolty J Theriot Offshore of Golden Meadow, Louisiana, USA, URS of Antwerp, Smit-Lloyd of Rotterdam, and United Towing Ltd. of Hull.
> I will attach what pictures I have of the PM-24, sorry I don’t have any photos of her when she was on location.
> Do you have any recollection of PM-24?
> PM-24 was born as a standard 10,470 GT type T2-SE-A2 tanker. Her keel was laid May 8, 1944, she was launched July 4, 1944, completed in August 1944, and delivered to the U.S. War Shipping Admin. in San Francisco as MISSION SANTA MARIA.
> After WW2 she was acquired by various civilian owners ten times. The transactions relevant to this message are shown below:
> Sale (3) To Aurora Compagnia Navegacion, Panama, in 1950. She was renamed JOHN. In 1951 she was rebuilt to 544.9 ft. LOA and 11,625 GT’
> Sale (9) To Galeta Ocean Equipment & Shipping Co., Panama (a Micoperi company), in 1969. She was renamed GALETA. In 1970 she was converted to a 7,892 GT crane barge, hence the reduction of 3,733 in her GT, i.e. from 11, 625 to 7,892.
> Sale (10) To Payardi Shipping & Contractor Co, Panama (a Micoperi company), in 1971. She was renamed SEPT ILES.
> Sale (11) She was delivered by Payardi for scrapping at Sveti Kajo, Split, Splitsko-Dalmatinska, Croatia, in Dec. 1972.
> As far as Ingram Micoperi JV personnel were concerned, the vessel was known as “PM-24”: I have no idea where the name SEPT ILES (as shown in historical files) comes from.
> I recall there was a fire aboard PM-24 while she was in port in Rotterdam, I think, back in 1971. Although the fire was relatively minor from a structural perspective (it arose in a walk-in chill box full of vegetables and was confined to the galley), two American project engineers died in their sleep from suffocation in thick smoke picked up in the ship’s HVAC system and carried into the crew accommodation spaces. The tragedy convinced our JV partner, Micoperi, to finally agree to ban alcoholic beverages from the PM-24, the investigation having concluded that beer consumed by the engineers with their 3rd meal (supper) caused them to sleep more soundly than normal and, therefore, they did not awake and evacuate as their compartment filled with the toxic smoke. Prior to that accident, crew aboard the barge were having beer and liqueurs with meals and the topside construction hands had a BOLS bar set up in the “tub” under the derrick crane!


Attached photos of the Blue Whale in Rotterdam harbour, around 1976, the Sept Iles in 1955 before conversion, and MV Tolteca, both involved in Auk platform installation





















. Can't remember where I picked these up.


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## DxbBob

Nice photos, thanks for posting them.

In the 1966 offshore work season (1966 being the year “Nederlandse Maatschappij voor Werken Buitengaats” was established), a total of four construction spreads, all owned by Brown & Root, worked in the North Sea. In the five succeeding work seasons the number of offshore spreads working in the North Sea was as shown below.

1967 6 spreads, all Brown & Root (“B&R”)

1968 6 spreads, 5 from B&R and one from Ingram-Micoperi Joint Venture (“Ingram”)

1969 6 spreads, 5 from B&R and one from Ingram

1970 5 spreads, 4 from B&R and one from Ingram

1971 9 spreads, 5 from B&R, 1 each from McDermott, Heerema, Santa Fe, and Ingram



One can see how, by January 1966, five well established and solvent Dutch dredging and civil contractors [namely (1) Bos en Kalis, (2) Royal Adriaan Volker Group, (3) Van Hattum & Blankevoort, (4) Baggermaatschappij Dirk Verstoep, and (5) HBM / HAM] could collaborate to pursue opportunities in the red-hot offshore oil and gas construction market. The new joint stock company they established commissioned its first vessel in 1969, the pioneer SWATH vessel DUPLUS. She was primarily designed for North Sea geotechnical work (e.g. box and grab sampling, stationary piston, vibracore, and rock coring and sampling, and deep penetration wet rotary drilling soil surveys), and whatever other work, such as diving or installing pipeline stabilization, was within her capacity and capability. 

In 1971 the young company decided to compete in what to them must have appeared to be the lucrative first tier offshore construction business. It changed its name to “Netherlands Offshore Company” and placed orders for a Gusto 800 ton capacity crane and acquired the 16,266 GT 595 feet long Swedish tanker-ore carrier SS SOYA ATLANTIC for conversion into a combination derrick lay vessel named ORCA, which was delivered in 1972. In 1976 two other merchant ships were converted into 2000 short ton lift capacity crane vessels and named BLUE WHALE and SEA LION I. In 1978, NOC took delivery of a third-generation crane vessel, the new build semi-submersible NARWHAL with an IHC Gusto designed 2000 short ton revolving crane built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries. 

As NOC grew, so too did its competitors. The numbers of offshore construction spreads working in the North Sea from 1972 through 1979 inclusive are shown below.

1972 12 spreads, 5 from B&R, 2 each from McDermott, Heerema, and Santa Fe, and one from NOC

1973 17 spreads, 8 from B&R, 3 from each of McDermott and Santa Fe, 2 from Heerema and one NOC

1974 28 spreads, 11 from B&R, 7 from McDermott, 3 from each of Heerema and Santa Fe, and one from each of NOC, Micoperi, Saipem and ETPM

1975 35 spreads, 12 from B&R, 9 from McDermott, 3 from each of Heerema and Santa Fe, 2 from each of NOC, Micoperi and ETPM, and one from each of Saipem and Viking

1976 36 spreads, 10 from B&R, 9 from McDermott, 3 from each of Heerema and Santa Fe, two from each of NOC, Micoperi, Saipem and ETPM, and 1 from each of Uglands Raymond, A.G. Marine and Viking

1977 38 spreads, 10 from B&R, 10 from McDermott, 4 from Heerema, 3 from Santa Fe, two from each of NOC, Micoperi, Saipem, and ETPM, and one from each of Uglands Raymond, A.G. Marine, and Viking

1978 25 spreads, 6 from B&R, 5 from McDermott, 4 from Santa Fe, 3 from each of Heerema, NOC and Micoperi, and one from ETPM

1979 20 spreads, 6 from B&R, 4 from each of McDermott and Heerema, 3 from Santa Fe, and one from each of NOC, Micoperi and ETPM



Despite NOC’s relative success, by 1979 it became clear to the NOC partners that demand by the oil and gas majors for offshore construction services was about to fall off substantially. Bos Kalis felt it needed to concentrate on its core dredging business. Adriaan Volker had just merged with the Stevin Group and despite its strong civil engineering performance in the Middle East (it was constructing the port of Jubail, Saudi Arabia) it was under pressure to deliver solid financial results. Van Hattum & Blankevoort were experienced in significant civil engineering projects in the Netherlands and wanted to avoid the foreseeable financial effects of idle NOC offshore installation vessels. Dirk Verstoep felt the need shed the financial burden of NOC in order to protect its commitments to RDM’s construction of the drilling rig SEDNETH I. The Beton Group entities (HAM and HBM) sought to confine themselves to their traditional specialties, reinforced concrete civil construction projects and foundation piling and dredging. In April 1979 it became public knowledge that discussions between NOC and Heerema regarding prospective demise chartering or sale of some or all of NOC’s vessels to Heerema were not fruitful and in September 1979 DUPLUS, BLUE WHALE, ORCA, SEA LION I and NARWHAL were acquired in a cash transaction by Oceanic Contractors, Inc., a McDermott company. The three derrick pipelay ship shaped monohull vessels were used in Mexico by a newly formed Mexican joint venture in which McDermott had a 49% interest and in 1981 ownership of these vessels was transferred to the Mexican co-venturer and they were renamed TOLTECA (ex BLUE WHALE), HUASTOCA (ex SEA LION I) and MIXTECO (ex ORCA). NARWHAL was renamed McDERMOTT DB101 in January 1981 and renamed again DB101 in January 1996. In 1984 McDermott relocated the crane from the center of the barge to the stern, increasing the lift capacity from 1800 to 2700 short tons revolving and from 3150 to 3500 short tons fixed over the stern. DB101 was well utilized for structure installation work around the world until her retirement and recycling in 2015. Given the cyclical nature of offshore construction work, McDermott found utilization of DUPLUS, which it renamed JARAMAC 57 in 1980, somewhat of a challenge. The boat was used at various times to support diving operations and to perform pipeline stabilization work, jacket foundation pile grouting, hookup and pre-commissioning of remote wellhead platforms, pre and post lay pipeline surveys, and platform pre and post installation debris surveys. From time to time utilization was improved through spot time charters to Fugro. In 1984 she was sold to International Underwater Contractors. Renamed TWIN DRILL, she enjoyed decent utilization in the Gulf of Mexico for another ten years before being laid up for progressively longer periods. In 2004 she was broken up for recycling in Mobile, Alabama.


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