Value of S&P sales in OSV sector down 43% in 2024

On a total dollar basis, S&P activity in the OSV sector was down 43% y-o-y, according to the latest data from a leading ship valuation firm.

Total sales for 2024 as of 31 December were US$1.79Bn, with 172 vessels changing hands, according to VesselsValue (VV). This represents 57% of the aggregate value of sales in 2023, when 364 offshore vessels were sold, totalling US$3.12Bn. VV, which is part of Veson Nautical, says the totals do not include the sales of fast supply vessels nor platform supply vessels (PSVs) that are 300 dwt and under.

Total OSV sales in 2022 hit US$1.9Bn, with investors acquiring 373 secondhand vessels.

Britoil buys AHTSs

Among the deals that closed in December 2024 was the sale of two anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels by SEACOR Marine. Those two AHTSs, SEACOR 888 and SEACOR 88, were sold to Singapore-based Britoil Offshore Services (BOS), according to VV.

US-based SEACOR Marine had reported the two 2013-built vessels were sold en bloc at a price of US$22.5M, but did not disclose the buyer. The sale marked SEACOR Marine’s exit from the AHTS vessel segment and helped set into motion the American owner’s fleet renewal programme, which will see it add two battery-hybrid PSVs, one in 2026 and the other in 2027.

“BOS continues to expand its fleet with savvy deals”

Meanwhile, high-flying BOS continues to expand its fleet with savvy deals. The BOS fleet is almost 60 vessels, covering AHTSs, anchor-handling tugs, and PSVs.

In an opportunistic deal, BOS added two AHTSs purchased from China’s Nantong Tongshun Shiprepair & Building. The two newbuilds were originally ordered more than a decade ago but were left unfinished at the shipyard when the original owner abandoned them during the downturn in the oil and gas market. The shipyard reactivated the construction of the vessels when life returned to the market.

One of those vessels, the 73-m, 8,000-bhp Britoil Defiance (ex Brine Eagle), had an official delivery date of 22 October 2024 — more than 12 years after its launch date, according to the ABS Record.

Dutch vessel owner Braveheart Marine reported the sale of Braveheart Spirit in a social media post.

Braveheart Spirit (ex Bourbon Gulf Star) is a 2,900-dwt PSV built in 2010 by Zhejiang Shipbuilding. According to VV, the PSV was acquired by Braveheart Marine in December 2021 from Bourbon for US$1.7M, less than half of its market valuation at the time, of US$3.93M.

While the amount of the most recent transaction was not disclosed, the Dutch owner could well have pocketed a tidy sum on the vessel’s sale based on its current market value, which the UK-based ship valuations firm estimated at US$12.24M as of 8 December.

Demolition down

Despite an ageing global fleet of OSVs, demolition sales fell during in 2024, with only nine OSVs sold for scrap, with a value of US$7M. This was half the number of vessels (18) sold for demolition in 2023, with purchases totalling US$12M. In 2022, 40 OSVs were sold for demolition, with total deals valued at US$33M.