Heerema renews contract with Kongsberg Digital in support of crane simulator

Kongsberg Digital, a subsidiary of Kongsberg, has won a five-year contract extension with Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) for system support of maritime simulation solutions and training.

Kongsberg Digital confirmed on Monday that Heerema had renewed its Long-Term System Support Programme (LTSSP) contract with the company for another five years. This contract provides support to a K-Sim Offshore Crane simulation system, which features digital twins of HMC’s semi-submersible construction vessels, ships and barges. The simulation centre is located at the HMC headquarters in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Jan Pieter de Vries, Manager Simulations and Visual Products at HMC Academy, remarked: “By renewing this LTSSP we are ensuring that our clients, offshore crew and project teams continue to benefit from the most advanced simulation-based training and project preparation on the market, simulating real-world scenarios.”

According to Kongsberg Digital, this renewal ensures its continued commitment to maintaining Heerema’s simulators at the leading edge of available technology, from hardware upgrades through to additional ship models, library objects and equipment models.

It was installed in 2015 as one of the world’s most advanced offshore heavy lift crane simulators. The records show its usage ranges from confirming the feasibility of new methods and equipment to optimising efficiency and safety performance for current execution methods.

Andreas Jagtøyen, Executive Vice President Digital Ocean at Kongsberg Digital, commented: “HMC’s renewal of this LTSSP is a clear endorsement of the capability and longevity of our maritime simulation solutions. Our commitment to supporting the maritime industry is not limited to providing the best technology, but also extends to ensuring that our customers gain value from their investment for years to come, through long product lifecycles and extensive service, provided by our 24/7 support network.”

The simulator platform was developed specifically by Kongsberg Digital to meet Heerema’s requirements and the Simulation Center is a real-time offshore environment where offshore crew and project teams examine all project aspects and associated risks.

Kongsberg Digital says it includes two offshore crane operator domes and a bridge with K-Sim DP simulator, based on the same Kongsberg Maritime K-Pos DP systems used on HMC’s vessels. The firm also adds that detailed models of Heerema’s SSCVs, Heavy Lift Vessel, tugs and barges ensure realistic scenarios and enable detailed pre-mission training for heavy-lift projects.

The company has won several new contracts and extensions for existing deals this year. Earlier in September, the firm signed a contract with Island Offshore to digitalise its fleet of 26 offshore service vessels with the company’s Vessel Insight cloud data infrastructure solution.

In addition, Kongsberg Digital and the classification society ABS joined forces in October to power maritime digitalisation and decarbonisation.

Heerema is not lagging behind with contract awards either. In fact, it is worth reminding that Equinor awarded a contract for transport and installation to the firm with an estimated value of NOK 60 million (over $6.6 million). The company’s Sleipnir vessel is scheduled to lift in place the three big modules currently under construction at Aibel’s yard in Haugesund in the summer of 2024.

Furthermore, Heerema’s Sleipnir – the LNG-powered world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel – set a record in June for the heaviest crane lift in Norwegian waters after it successfully installed the 12,050-metric ton Johan Sverdrup processing platform (P2) jacket.