Bram Roelse News

Royal IHC (IHC) and National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) have signed a contract for the construction of the first custom-build state-of-the-art trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) in the Gulf area. The contract was signed at NMDC’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, UAE on 9 March 2016 by Mr Eng. Yasser Zaghloul, CEO NMDC and Mr Bram Roelse, CEO IHC. The TSHD will have a capacity of 6,000m3 and will form a part of NMDC’s international growth and fleet investment strategy, which is aimed at positioning the company as a leader in the industry. “We are proud to contribute to NMDC’s growth strategy and value the long-term relationship with our customer,” says Bram Roelse. The design is the result of close cooperation between IHC and NMDC.

The Adani Group has signed a contract for two IHC Beagle 8 trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHDs). These two 8,000m3 vessels belong to the standardised IHC Beagle series, designed and built by IHC using over a century of dredging experience. The IHC Beagle series achieves high levels of efficiency and maximum uptime as a result of its uniform design and the use of high-end components. The vessels are reliable performers, with an emphasis on operational excellence. Each comes equipped with IHC’s Trailspeed Controller (TSC) and Eco Pump Controller (EPC). Developed in-house, the TSC ensures a constant speed while dredging, which leads to higher average production results and greater levels of consistency…

Royal IHC announced the sale of an Easydredge 3700, the largest vessel in the Easydredge series of standard twin-screw trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHD), which are designed and built by IHC. This innovative and flexible Easydredge concept can be tailor-made to suit requirements, without compromising on delivery times or price. Available from stock, they are fit for all common maintenance and land reclamation jobs and offer customers maximum cost efficiency and affordability, with a standard design that can be adjusted, even at a later stage, to meet their needs. Common features of the range include specially designed Easydredge dredging equipment, latest state of the art IHC dredge pump, and a slender hull for increased speed and low fuel consumption.

Royal IHC announced it has expanded its activities with the acquisition of Fraser Hydraulic Power (FHP) in the UK and Robbins Technology Group (RTG) in Brisbane, Australia. With these latest acquisitions, IHC has expanded its offshore rental fleet and gained a stronger foothold in the mining market respectively. Founded in 1986, FHP designs and builds systems for laying subsea cables and umbilicals with tracked engines and tensioners, cable carousels, and drum handling systems in its product range. These are supplied to the subsea telecoms, renewables, and oil and gas industries. FHP operates from a recently custom-built 28,000 sq ft unit at the Neptune Energy Park in Walker, Newcastle, which is perfectly located to support its customer base of offshore marine contractors.

Royal IHC has been awarded a contract for the design, construction and delivery of two unique low-emission dredging vessels to DEME in Belgium, the builder announced today. The 7,950m3 and 3,000m3 (expandable to 3,500m3) trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHDs) are the first to be provided with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) installation. The unique arrangements for the propulsion and dredge pump drive, combined with the LNG installation will reduce fuel consumption and ensure extremely low levels of emissions.

Royal IHC (IHC) has integrated four of its business units – IHC Hydrohammer, IHC Handling Systems, IHC Sea Steel and IHC Fundex Equipment – into one new organization, which will operate under the name IHC IQIP. IHC said the merger aims to offer a fully integrated solution for on- and offshore installation, foundation and decommissioning to customers in the oil and gas, offshore wind and coastal and civil markets. “Many of our customers are already working with one or more of the four IHC business units now integrated under the IHC IQIP umbrella.

Royal IHC has acquired SAS Offshore, which is based in Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands. SAS Offshore is specialised in designing and manufacturing high quality deck equipment for the offshore oil and gas market. This acquisition enables IHC to further secure its position as a supplier of reliable integrated offshore systems and integrated vessels in this sector. SAS Offshore was originally founded in 1896 in Gouda and it has a long track record in delivering pipelaying systems and winches, including ancillary equipment and services. The company also holds a minority shareholding in the Norwegian engineering and service company AXTech, and this stake has also been taken over by IHC.

Royal IHC has acquired a majority stake in Brazilian-based Brastec Technologies, a designer and builder of tailor-made production lines for the production of umbilicals and flexible pipes. According to IHC, the agreement fulfils two important elements of its business strategy: a foothold in the important Brazilian market; and the acquisition of Dutch-based SAS Offshore, which was fully owned by Brastec Technologies. Founded in 2002, Brastec Technologies has built a customer base consisting of suppliers to oil companies, mainly manufacturers of flexible pipes and umbilical cables. The value-added equipment manufactured by Brastec is considered as essential for the activities within the oil-and-gas exploration supply chain, IHC said.

Historic Dutch specialist shipyard IHC Merwede says it has been awarded the honorary title of Koninklijk (Royal) by the His Majesty the King. In light of this honour, the company has decided to change its name to Royal IHC and will also include the royal crown in its revised corporate identity. The company explains that the Royal title is an award granted to companies or organisations that meet certain conditions. To qualify, the nominated company must have been in existence for at least 100 years and should have prestige with regard to its image, size and reliability. It must be of national importance to and have prominence in The Netherlands – preferably with an international outlook – and the size of the company…

Royal IHC (IHC) has reached an agreement to sell 100% of its shares in its subsidiary IHC Sealing Solutions to new owners Willem Steenge, who as CEO is partly responsible for the strong growth of IHC Sealing Solutions in recent years, and Rabo Participaties (RaPar). The sale enables IHC to strengthen its focus on its core business: offering integrated innovative vessels, advanced equipment and life-cycle support to the dredging, wet mining and offshore construction industries.

His Majesty the King has awarded the honorary title of Koninklijk (Royal) to IHC Merwede. In a special ceremony today, the Mayor of Sliedrecht, Mr van Hemmen, presented this accolade to IHC Merwede’s CEO, Bram Roelse. In light of this honour, the company has decided to change its name to Royal IHC and will also include the royal crown in its revised corporate identity. The Royal title is an award granted to companies or organisations that meet certain conditions. To qualify, the…

IHC Merwede successfully increased its orderbook in 2013 across the main sectors of its business: offshore and dredging. The company received almost € 1.8 billion worth of new orders in the past year. At the end of 2013, the order book was valued at over € 1.7 billion, which is the equivalent of a backlog of approximately two years. IHC Merwede develops and builds innovative vessels, advanced equipment and life-cycle support services for the dredging, mining and offshore industries.

IHC Merwede announced that it has appointed Bram Roelse as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with immediate effect as of April 1, 2014. He has taken over this leading role within the company from predecessor Dirk Philips who stepped back in November 2013. Roelse has worked at IHC Merwede for the past 13 years. He was originally appointed as the Managing Director of the company’s business unit IHC Systems. At the end of 2004, he moved to the company’s shipyard at Kinderdijk, where he became Director of the Dredging division.

IHC Merwede says it has been successful in securing orders worth € 350 million for a wide range of dredging and offshore vessels and equipment, including a large trailing suction dredger for a Chinese customer. The company's Dredging division has confirmed new contracts for the delivery of a large custom-built trailing suction hopper dredger, with units that will be supplied by IHC Beaver Dredgers as well as a cutter suction dredger training simulator. The Offshore division has also announced orders for the construction of a 300-tonne pipelaying vessel…

IHC Merwede has secured orders worth €350 million for a wide range of dredging and offshore vessels and equipment. The company’s Dredging division has confirmed new contracts for the delivery of a large custom-built trailing suction hopper dredger, 13 units that will be supplied by IHC Beaver Dredgers and a cutter suction dredger training simulator. The Offshore division has also announced orders for the construction of a 300-metric-ton pipelaying vessel, as well as a J-Lay pipelaying system and a tandem mooring system.

IHC Merwede has been contracted by Royal Boskalis Westminster (Boskalis) for the design, construction and delivery of a 23,684kW self-propelled cutter suction dredger (CSD) which will be one of the largest CSDs of its kind in the world. The shipbuilders say that as part of the close cooperation and working relationship between Boskalis and IHC Merwede, much attention has been paid to the design of this latest CSD in terms of safety, the environment and increased operational workability. A particular feature of the vessel is the widening of the aft ship in order to reduce the draught.

IHC Merwede’s CEO, Dirk Philips, will step back from his role within the company. Over the past two months, he has led the management board to formulate some important aspects of IHC Merwede’s future business strategy, as well as the appropriate organization required to implement it. The mutual decision on the timing of Mr. Philips’ retirement from his role coincides with the successful completion of this phase of the company’s mission. The supervisory board is currently considering the future composition of the board of management. Therefore, until further notice, the board of management comprises of Bram Roelse (COO) and Dave Vander Heyde (CFO), who will jointly carry out Mr. Philips’ duties. ihcmerwede.com

IHC Merwede’s Offshore division secured orders worth over €1 billion for the design, engineering and construction of a total of six pipelaying vessels. The agreements for these six ships have been signed with Subsea 7 and Seabras Sapura, the partnership between SapuraKencana and Seadrill. IHC Merwede will supply three fully integrated pipelaying vessels to Seabras Sapura. These will include the complete pipelaying spreads, which comprise of a twin-tensioner tilting lay tower, two below-deck baskets and support equipment for the loading, spooling and routing of products. The integrated automation system, full electrical installation and electrical machinery package will also be designed and delivered by IHC Merwede.

IHC Merwede has launched a new budget range of small hopper dredgers under the name of ’Easydredge’. This is in response to the increasing global demand for smaller dredgers. The sophisticated design, standardised components and smart production choices make the easydredge vessel an extremely cost-effective concept with a short delivery time. The Easydredge series bridges the gap between the existing line-up of IHC Beagle standard hopper dredgers and the standard IHC Beaver cutter suction dredgers.