OSJ Asia: vessel shortages, tightening national laws hold back subsea sector

There is, however, one sector of the offshore market bucking the trend. Multiple newbuild crew transfer vessels (CTVs) for offshore hydrocarbons and renewables projects are being ordered from and delivered by shipyards.

Penguin International general manager for fleet and commercial operations, George Philip, said there is greater interest in many markets for crew boats to compete with or replace helicopters, for transferring offshore personnel and light cargo.

He compared Penguin’s own Flex 42X design of CTVs with helicopters, and discovered these workboats are more flexible, cheaper to build, quicker to repair and offered better crew comfort. Vessels also have far more carrying capacity for people and cargo and a longer range between refuelling than helicopters. 

Penguin operates crew, workboats and passenger ferries and builds them at its two shipyards - one in Singapore and the other in Batam, Indonesia.

"Crew boats are more flexible - they can be engaged with search and rescue and fire-fighting," said Mr Philip.

"They can carry up to 60 tonnes of cargoes, including containers, and with three engines and gensets, there is redundancy." Vessels can operate just on one engine and one generator set to limp back to port to complete passenger transfers and be repaired. 

In the same conference session, Archer Knight co-founder and executive director David Sheret described the subsea market, challenges and future opportunities.

"It is a flourishing subsea market, driven by increasing energy demand, growth in offshore wind and advances in subsea technology," he said.

There is demand for diving and ROV support vessels from major deepwater energy projects, for brownfield developments and maintenance, which is providing owners with lucrative long-term and spot-market charters.

"Construction subsea vessels are going for incredible amounts," said Mr Sheret. "Rates are increasing, but when this gets to a tipping point is when companies will not go ahead with projects," he warned.

Energy Maritime Associates managing director David Boggs summarised some of these projects. He said there are around 30 floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels under construction or on order worldwide, eight semi-submersible production units, another eight floating LNG production and export ships and six floating storage and regasification units.

Mr Boggs said Brazil, West Africa, Europe and Asia are the main destinations for these newbuilds. Most of the FPSOs on order are being built in China and are transferred to Singapore for integration of topsides and commissioning before heading to Latin America.

There is also demand for extending the life of existing FPSOs, as energy companies continue producing oil and gas beyond their expectations and new fields are tied into existing infrastructure.

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