Heerema Marine Contractors is launching a new international engineering hub in Porto. This strategic expansion marks the establishment of a long-term footprint in Portugal through the newly formed Heerema Portugal Lda., with operational launch scheduled for early September.
The new Porto hub integrates into Heerema’s global engineering network, operating in direct coordination with the corporate headquarters in Leiden (Netherlands), global offices in London, Houston, Singapore and Villahermosa, and its fleet of heavy-lift crane vessels executing offshore campaigns worldwide.
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Skilled technical professionals
The strategic selection of Porto is driven by its academic institutions, the resilience of its technology and innovation community, and access to an outstanding pool of top-tier professionals and emerging engineering graduates across multidisciplinary fields.
Marcel de Nooijer, CEO, Heerema Marine Contractors: ‘Porto offers the ideal blend of a vibrant tech ecosystem, world-renowned universities, and exceptional engineering talent. Our projects demand cutting-edge technical sophistication, and this is the perfect time to scale our global organisation. The new office in Porto is not a temporary site for a single contract — it represents a structural, long-term investment in developing deep engineering expertise and capabilities in Portugal.’
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Offshore energy projects
Engineers and specialists at the Porto hub will contribute across the full lifecycle of offshore energy projects — from tender support and conceptual engineering to detailed offshore installation planning and execution. Key operational focus areas include:
- Offshore wind energy: Installation of monopile foundations and offshore substations for landmark projects worldwide.
- Complex marine infrastructure: Transport and installation of large-scale offshore structures under multi-year international partnerships.
- Sustainable decommissioning: Safe, responsible, and circular removal of end-of-life offshore platforms.
The initial recruitment phase focuses on key roles, including technical project managers, installation engineers, structural engineers, technical draughtsman, and human resources professionals. The launch will also be supported on-site by eight senior specialists seconded from Heerema’s offices in Leiden and Houston.
Picture: Heerema’s deepwater construction vessel Balder and semi-submersible crane vessel Thialf in the Port of Rotterdam (photo Frans Berkelaar, Flickr, CC BY 2.0).
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