Ship sale and contract awards for Norwegian owners

Owners have faced tough markets with slow demand and falling revenues during the northern hemisphere winter but demand for offshore support vessels (OSVs) is beginning to improve.

GC Rieber Shipping has secured a charter extension from DeepOcean for its subsea construction and maintenance support vessel Polar Onyx. The 2014-built flexible pipelay and subsea construction vessel will continue operating for DeepOcean in deepwater oil and gas projects in Ghana until the end of May 2021. Polar Onyx has been in DeepOcean’s fleet since January 2018.

In a separate announcement, GC Rieber said it has sold 2011-built walk-to-work vessel Polar Queen to an undisclosed buyer. This will generate a positive liquidity effect of around Nkr22M (US$2.6M) after repaying the vessel`s outstanding debt, said GC Rieber. The gangway on board the vessel is excluded from the sale and will remain an asset for GC Rieber’s vessels.

GC Rieber chief executive Einar Ytredal said the vessel will leave the offshore industry. “This is the second sale of vessels since August 2020 and provides GC Rieber with a further strengthened balance sheet, enabling us to deliver on our strategy to develop new profitable and sustainable maritime projects,” said Mr Ytredal.

Other Norwegian owners and operators have gained vessel and offshore service contracts.

Siem Offshore and Seaway 7, the renewables business unit of Subsea 7, have secured a contract for an offshore wind project in the Far East. Offshore construction vessel Siem Barracuda is currently mobilising to the area of operation, from Scotland. According to Automatic Identification System data, the 2013-built and STX OSCV 11L-design vessel was passing the Suez Canal on 22 February.

Siem Barracuda will be chartered for the offshore renewables project for a minimum period of 100 days, excluding options. Siem Offshore said since its early entrance to the offshore wind segment, its vessels have contributed with over 200,000 personnel transfers at sea.

Reach Subsea and partner MMT Sweden have been awarded a three-year contract to provide annual surveys of the Nord Stream pipeline system running through the Baltic Sea. This pipeline delivers natural gas from Russian fields to Germany for western European distribution.

Reach and MMT will provide visual and acoustic survey services, critical for pipeline integrity assessments, inspecting the European sections of both lines during Q1 and Q2 2021.

This is on top of Reach gaining another contract award and call-offs under frame agreements for 2021 execution. “We are pleased to see that quality in execution once again proves to be a recipe for repeat business from our clients,” said Reach chief executive Jostein Alendal. “As we enter 2021, we are encouraged with how the first part of the year is shaping up, with a schedule that looks much better than at the same time last year,” he said.

In Norway, Shearwater GeoServices has gained a contract from Aker BP to provide an ocean bottom seismic (OBS) 4D survey over the Ivar Aasen field. This will commence during Q2 2021 and will employ Shearwater’s multipurpose vessels SW Cook and SW Tasman and proprietary technology for around one month.

Also in Norway, Aker Solutions has won a contract to provide modifications on two floating gas production platforms in Norway. It will modify topsides using support vessels on Troll B and C platforms offshore Norway for Equinor, to reduce CO₂ emissions from these facilities.

This will include replacing power generation from gas turbines at the platforms with electrical power from shore via new subsea cables. Aker Solutions’ work will include engineering, procurement, construction and prefabrication of systems, and installation on the offshore platforms. The work will start immediately and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2025.

The Troll field lies about 65 km west of Bergen off Norway’s west coast. The electrical power cable will be connected to shore at Kollsnes outside Bergen. Aker Solutions’ contract award is subject to a final investment decision and a regulatory approval.

Offshore construction projects and subsea technologies will be discussed during Riviera’s Annual Offshore Support Journal Virtual Conference Week - 23-25 March 2021 - use this link to access more details and register for these events