For more than thirty years, operations and maintenance for the offshore sector have been based in Den Helder.
For more than thirty years, operations and maintenance for the offshore sector have been based in Den Helder. On both a national and international scale, the port of Den Helder occupies an important position as the offshore supply base from which, on a daily basis, 160 production platforms and various drilling rigs in the Dutch sector of the North Sea receive deliveries of supplies and replacement crew members. Not only is it the port with the shortest sailing times to the largest number of platforms on the Continental Shelf, but it is also the base of operations delivering optimum service to the international offshore industry.
The port of Den Helder aims to further expand and underpin this solid position over the next few years for both the oil and gas industry, and for the offshore energy sector in the broadest sense. Ground-breaking developments in the field of technology and research are resulting in a massive upsurge in market demand to which the seaport has so far always come up with a suitable response, in the form of new (ISPS-certified) and well-sheltered quaysides, a port that operates 24/7 and delivers optimum service provision thanks to central logistics and rapid vessel handling, and with short sailing times to the Continental Shelf, all backed up by Den Helder Airport, and excellent hinterland connections from the open sea via road, inland shipping and rail.
Given this unique combination of characteristics, the port of Den Helder is the largest offshore hub on the North Sea coast, making Den Helder a cost-effective choice from both a strategic and logical point of view.
The port of Den Helder is also an ideal base of operations for the (de)mobilisation of vessels deployed for seabed survey work, diving activities and inspection, repair and maintenance work. Semi-submersible rigs operating in the wind energy sector regularly visit the port.
The port of Den Helder is the operations centre for numerous international shipping agents including Peterson, DHSS and SeaMar Services. The port is also home base for operators including Vroon Offshore Services, GloMar Shipmanagement, Acta Marine and SeaMar Shipping. Neptune Energy Netherlands, NAM and Wintershall Noordzee have established their modern control centres in Den Helder, and it is from here that two-thirds of all oil and gas production platforms in the North Sea are monitored and controlled. Finally, more than one hundred service providers operating in the offshore industry are based in Den Helder.