Heerema to exit offshore pipelaying sector with the loss of 350 jobs

Heerema said it made the decision after a review early this year of the offshore pipelay market, which it said was highly competitive and suffered from significant overcapacity.

The company said the move would result in the loss of 350 permanent staff positions and that compulsory redundancies were unavoidable. The company said the process would include the streamlining the board with chairman Pieter Heerema taking over as chief executive prior to the appointment of a permanent ceo.

”Dictated by the difficult market conditions we have to change into a different kind of organization. I deeply regret the consequent loss of trusted and professional colleagues who have helped building our strong reputation in the offshore (pipe lay) market,” chairman Heerema said.

The company will exit the pipelay sector immediately but will honour existing contracts. It plans to convert the deepwater construction vessel Aegir to a fast sailing heavy lift vessel.

Going forward Heerema plans to focus its business on the transport and installation of offshore structures, decommissioning of platforms and the execution of projects in the renewables sector.

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