Allseas
{{short description|Subsea construction company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Allseas Group S.A.
| logo = Allseas logo grey-red.png
| type = Private
| predecessor =
| founder = Edward Heerema
| area_served =
| key_people =
| industry = offshore pipelaying
undersea construction
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| aum =
| assets =
| equity =
| owner =
| num_employees = 4,000Allseas website: [https://allseas.com/company/ About company], visited 21 December 2019
| divisions =
| subsid =
| footnotes =
| intl =
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1985}}
| location_city = Châtel-Saint-Denis, canton of Fribourg
| location_country = Switzerland
| locations =
| market cap =
| homepage = {{url|http://www.allseas.com}}
}}
Allseas Group S.A. is a Dutch offshore contractor specialising in pipelay, heavy lift and subsea construction.{{Cite web|url=http://allseas.com/company/|title=Allseas company|last=|first=|date=|website=www.allseas.com|publisher=|access-date=}} It was founded in 1985 by owner and president Edward Heerema, employs 4,000 people and operates worldwide.
The company is headquartered in Châtel-Saint-Denis, Switzerland. It also owns a subsidiary, Allseas Engineering B.V., based in the Netherlands with offices in Delft, Eindhoven and Enschede, which provide project management and engineering services to the group. The company also operates project and engineering offices out of Australia, Malaysia, Qatar, Brazil and the United States.{{Cite web|url=http://allseas.com/company/offices-and-yards/|title=Allseas offices and yards|last=|first=|date=|website=www.allseas.com|publisher=|access-date=}}
Allseas operates a versatile fleet of specialised heavy-lift, pipelay and subsea installation vessels. The company has installed over 20,000 km of subsea pipeline worldwide using S-lay technology, with diameters ranging from 2 to 48 inches.{{Cite web|url=http://allseas.com/activities/pipelines-and-subsea/pipeline-installation/|title=Pipeline installation|website=www.allseas.com}} Allseas launched its first vessel Lorelay, the world's first pipelay vessel to operate on full dynamic positioning, in 1986.{{Cite web|url=http://www.offshore-mag.com/articles/print/volume-56/issue-1/news/general-interest/gulf-of-mexico-converted-dp-lorelay-to-install-deepwater-lines.html|title=Converted DP Lorelay to install deepwater lines|date= 1 January 1996|work=Offshore Magazine}} It also owns Pioneering Spirit, the world's largest vessel, designed for the single-lift installation and removal of large oil and gas platforms and the installation of record-weight pipelines.
History
Allseas was founded in January 1985 by Edward Heerema, son of the late Pieter Schelte Heerema, founder of the Dutch offshore construction and installation company Heerema Marine Contractors. Offices subsequently opened in The Hague, Netherlands and Châtel-Saint-Denis, Switzerland.
The company spent its early days developing the concept of dynamically positioned (DP) subsea pipelay. Allseas acquired the former bulk carrier Natalie Bolten in 1985 and converted it for DP pipelay at the Boele shipyard in Bolnes, the Netherlands. The vessel was christened Lorelay in Rotterdam on 26 April 1986.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/swan-revival-means-1200-jobs-1340756.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126003439/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/swan-revival-means-1200-jobs-1340756.html |archive-date=2016-11-26 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Swan revival means 1,200 jobs|website=www.independent.co.uk}} Lorelay immediately entered service and successfully executed her first pipelay contract, the 8-inch, 1.8-km Helder A-B pipeline, for Unocal in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.
In 2007, Allseas announced plans to build a twin-hulled platform installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel. At 382 m long and 124 m wide, the vessel would be the largest ever built. It was to be named Pieter Schelte after the offshore pioneer Pieter Schelte Heerema, father of Allseas’ owner and founder Edward Heerema, however this naming caused controversy with some politicians and Jewish groups due to Pieter's previous service in the Waffen-SS during World War II, for which he was jailed for three years after the war.{{Cite web|title=Dutch outcry over naming a giant ship after Nazi|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-11-07-3812420165_x.htm|website=www.usatoday.com}} In February 2015, Allseas stated that the ship would be renamed Pioneering Spirit.{{Cite web|url=https://allseas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015-0209-New-name-for-Allseas%E2%80%99-single-lift-vessel.pdf|title=New name for Allseas' single-lift vessel|website=www.allseas.com}}
A criminal trial in the UK in 2016 revealed that Allseas was the victim of a multi-million-pound fraud. In 2011, they invested £73 million with investors led by Luis Nobre claiming to have links to the Vatican and Spanish nobility.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11889777/City-trader-posed-as-a-multi-millionaire-with-links-to-the-Vatican-in-73m-fraud-court-hears.html|title=City trader posed as a multi-millionaire with links to the Vatican in £73m fraud|website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/conman-faces-jail-for-posing-as-the-pope-s-banker-in-73m-fraud-a3175221.html|title=Conman faces jail for posing as the Pope's banker in £73m fraud|website=www.standard.co.uk}}
In 2018, Allseas announced its intention to build an even larger version of Pioneering Spirit, named Amazing Grace, which is scheduled to be delivered in 2022.{{Cite news|last=Karagiannopoulos|first=Lefteris|date=2018-02-07|title=Switzerland's Allseas plans world's largest construction vessel|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-gas-decommissioning-idUSKBN1FR26O|access-date=2021-02-13}} However, in July 2020, Allseas announced that it would suspend the project indefinitely.{{Cite web|last=Pieffers|first=Tobias|date=2020-07-22|title=Plans for larger 'Pioneering Spirit' shelved indefinitely|url=https://www.projectcargojournal.com/offshore/2020/07/22/plans-for-larger-pioneering-spirit-shelved-indefinitely/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811090402/https://www.projectcargojournal.com/offshore/2020/07/22/plans-for-larger-pioneering-spirit-shelved-indefinitely/ |archive-date=2020-08-11 |access-date=2021-02-13|website=projectcargojournal.com}}
Fleet
The company owns several vessels which are used for its offshore construction activities.
Hidden Gem to be added.
Sandpiper to be added.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{refbegin}}{{refend}}
Category:Construction and civil engineering companies of Switzerland
Category:Privately held companies of Switzerland
Category:Oilfield services companies
Category:Swiss companies established in 1985
Category:Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1985