Solstad sells anchor handlers, gains new contracts

Solstad has secured contracts for four of its subsea vessels with a combined value of around Nkr400M (US$46M) to work on offshore oil, gas and renewables projects in the North Sea, Brazil and West Africa.

These contracts are for Solstad’s Normand Maximus, Normand Frontier, Normand Pioneer and Normand Navigator, and will all commence in 2022. The combined firm utilisation for the contracts is 640 days, with additional options thereafter.

Solstad said these contracts demonstrate the market for “subsea construction vessels continues to improve with strong demand from both renewable energy and oil and gas activity.”

According to AIS data, 2016-built Normand Maximus is operating in the Barents Sea from Rypefjord, Norway; 2014-built Normand Frontier was working in Ghana in 2021, before heading to Gibraltar for refurbishments; AIS information states 1999-built Normand Pioneer was in Norway in Q4 2021 and is heading to Brazil; and 2015-built Normand Navigator was working in Malaysia in Q2 2021, and is heading towards Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

Also in the North Sea, Solstad secured a contract for its platform supply vessel (PSV) Normand Sitella in the UK sector. This 2013-built vessel will join two other Solstad PSVs – Sea Falcon and Sea Forth – on term contracts with the same UK-based operator.

Normand Sitella is set to begin the contract in March 2022 for an initial period of one year firm. The operator has options to keep this PSV on charter for two further years.

In addition, there is a one-year option on the Sea Forth contract, meaning this 2013-built vessel is now on a firm contract until March 2023, with a further optional year remaining.

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