After more than 40 years service, an icon of the inustry, Heerema Marine Contractor's semisubmersible crane vessel Hermod, was loaded onto Boskalis' heavy transport vessel Dockwise Vanguard in the port of Rotterdam.
The Vanguard will transport the Hermod to China where it will be dismantled and recycled.
Watch the loading operation here:
Designed and constructed in the 1970s, Hermod and her sister vessel Balder were the first semisubmersible crane vessels of their kind in the offshore construction industry.
The semisubmersible concept was developed with the aim of extending operability in the harsh North Sea environment and to deliver superior lifting capacity.
This allowed Heerema Marine Contractors 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 UK Continental Shelf.
The vessel executed its first project outside the North Sea in Brazil in the mid-1980s, followed by projects in the Gulf of Mexico, South East Asia and Africa.
Throughout its career, Hermod has worked in more than 25 countries and was involved in several "first-of" installation projects.
Read more: Retirement of an icon.