Demand for a new generation of anchor and mooring handling vessels will rise as more floating wind projects are developed and oil and gas exploration increases
Market supply, future demand and the need for new mooring and anchor handling ship designs were outlined during Riviera Maritime Media’s Navigating demand for anchor handlers: challenges and opportunities webinar.
This event was held 30 March 2023 during Riviera’s Offshore Energy Webinar Week with Fearnley Offshore Supply market analyst Jesper Skjong and Oceanic marine advisor and master mariner Pål Måløy on the panel.
They discussed how rising floating wind projects will impact the market for anchor handling tug/supply (AHTS) vessels as demand from the offshore oil and gas industry is expected to soar, the main requirements for these vessels and whether a new generation of AHTS ships will be required to install anchors and moorings.
Technical and operational challenges associated with anchor handlers, power requirements, winching capabilities and environmental sustainably challenges were debated.
Mr Skjong said floating wind and offshore oil and gas markets in the North Sea, Brazil and deepwater West Africa require large AHTS vessels of more than 18,000 bhp, which makes up around 10% of the total AHTS fleet. The current competitive fleet of AHTS vessels with more than 220 tonnes of bollard pull is 92 vessels with utilisation of 70% and term-charter rates of US$40,000-$50,000 per day. This is expected to jump during peak times as demand increases in 2023 and 2024.
There are 1,480 AHTS vessels worldwide in the commercial market and more than 200 cold stacked, with limited expectations of being reactivated.
Mr Skjong said global demand is about 1,040 AHTS and will rise to around 1,190 in 2024.
“Not considering the long and short-term stacked vessels, commercial utilisation is around 70% and will be 80% at end of this year, with the market back in balance early in 2024,” Mr Skjong said, adding day rates on the spot market were in excess of US$100,000 at peak times in Q3 2022 in the North Sea and could exceed these highs this year.
He expects there will be shortages of available AHTS vessels in 2024, as some are mobilised to support deepwater drilling and production developments in West Africa and for floating wind projects in northern Europe.
As more floating wind turbines are installed over the next 10 years, they will require far more AHTS vessels and put pressure on those available for offshore oil and gas. Mr Skjong said there were plans to install 350 floating turbines in 2023-2026 and 800 in 2027-2029, mostly in European and Asia-Pacific markets. There could be 4,500 floating wind turbines installed in the next decade.
When the current available commercial fleet of AHTS vessels is considered, supply will run out in 2029. “It is likely to be tight on the supply side going forward,” said Mr Skjong.
“Offshore operations in the future will include all types of energy production and will need highly advanced vessels with demand from both oil and gas and floating wind.”
Newbuild AHTS ships will be required for both markets, with different designs of vessels for the growth markets.
Mr Måløy introduced a new design for a mooring handling and construction vessel (MHCV) that could work as an AHTS in the oil and gas industry and be an efficient service provider in the growing floating wind market.
Oceanic and Sirius worked together on the design of two MHCVs with 310 tonnes of bollard pull and different main and A deck areas for storing mooring and anchor equipment.
“Vessels need high capacity for operational efficiency,” said Mr Måløy. “There will be heavy volumes of mooring equipment and several months for laying mooring lines and hook ups.”
This will put heavy loads on crew that will resemble a production line of repetitive work for installing hundreds of mooring lines and anchors during a campaign.
“We have done a lot of work to improve safety and efficient handling of future mooring solutions, and reduce the workload on the deck to a minimum,” said Mr Måløy.
“There is a lot of flexibility to optimise operations and these vessels are designed to load high volumes of equipment in different combinations.”
Sirius designed a standard MHCV with overall length of 114 m, beam of 30 m and depth to main deck of 11 m. It has 1,125 m2 of space on the main deck and 270 m2 in the equipment room below deck.
The XL version has overall length of 134 m, beam of 30 m and depth to main deck of 11 m, with 1,575 m2 of space on the main deck, 865 m2 on the A deck and 360 m2 in the equipment room below deck. Both have a bollard pull in mechanical mode of 310 tonnes, but Mr Måløy expects achievable bollard pull to be more than 400 tonnes.
On both, there would be direct deployment and recovery from all drums over a stern roller. “There will be high versatility, with the ability to work within different market segments,” said Mr Måløy.
They were designed with floating wind installation work primarily in mind, but are also adapted to support rig moves and moorings, subsea construction and mooring floating production systems.
With these MHCVs, “operators can take mooring logistics to the next level,” said Mr Måløy. “The next generation will facilitate drilling optimisation, reducing rig time and improving rig moves. But in the next 10-20 years, floating wind will change vessel requirements.”
Webinar poll results
Attendees were asked to vote on a series of poll questions during the webinar. Here is a summary of the results.
To what extent are end-clients willing to tolerate lower-specification AHTS vessels in a market that looks like it will be tight for some time to come?
Strongly willing: 4%
Somewhat willing: 51%
Slightly willing: 34%
Not willing at all: 10%
Do you believe the offshore industries of oil and gas and floating wind will use the same categories of AHTS vessels for commissioning, operation and maintenance duties in the 2030s or will these industries develop unique categories of AHTS vessels?
Same fleet with tier-based categorisation: 44%
Separate and distinct fleet for each industry: 46%
Uncertain/don’t know: 10%
Given the trend of increasingly larger wind turbine sizes, do you anticipate...
Vessel capacities will continue to grow as long as turbine sizes do: 36%
The market will adopt more efficient solutions: 46%
A turbine size standard will be established with market maturity: 18%
Given new fuels may not be readily available in the areas where next-generation AHTS vessels will operate, how critical is it for operators to invest in alternative fuels?
Absolutely crucial: 14%
Very important: 51%
Somewhat important: 26%
Not very important: 6%
Not at all important: 3%
To what extent do you believe vessels should be designated exclusively for installing mooring systems for the floating wind industry, as opposed to being adaptable to other market segments?
Vessels should be exclusively designed for installing mooring systems for the floating wind industry: 0%
Vessels should mainly be used for installing mooring systems for the floating wind industry, but should have some capability to work in other markets: 32%
Vessels should have a balanced approach between installing mooring systems for the floating wind industry and working in other markets: 60%
Vessels should primarily be used in other market segments, but they should be adaptable to install mooring systems for the floating wind industry: 8%
How concerned are you about the workload on deck during prolonged periods of prelaying mooring spreads?
Extremely concerned: 5%
Very concerned: 23%
Moderately concerned: 45%
Slightly concerned: 22%
Not concerned at all: 5%
Which of the following solutions do you believe offers the most promise in terms of reducing the workload and enhancing safety for deck crew when prelaying mooring spreads over extended periods?
Implementation of automation technology: 4%
Upgrading mooring system designs: 7%
Improving vessel design to minimise workload and increase safety: 37%
More extensive crew training: 11%
Reducing the duration of prelay mooring spread operations through better planning and logistics: 41%
Source: Riviera Maritime Media
On Riviera’s Navigating demand for anchor handlers: challenges and opportunities webinar panel were (left to right) Fearnley Offshore Supply market analyst Jesper Skjong and Oceanic marine advisor and master mariner Pål Måløy
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