2025 in offshore support vessels: headwinds push offshore oil and gas projects to the right

It was a year dominated by geopolitical and economic uncertainty that caused some delays in investment decisions on offshore oil and gas projects, and setbacks in the offshore wind sector, particularly in the US.

But this is not to say that the outlook for OSV owners is not bright. Many of the offshore oil and gas projects that were delayed have been pushed to the right, not cancelled. While the OSV market faced headwinds this year, expectations are that offshore drilling activity will begin to pick up in the latter half of 2026 and into 2027. And OSV owners have exercised capital discipline, limiting investments in speculative newbuilds and the supply of new capacity. There are about 134 OSV newbuilds on order, according to Clarksons Research. While this may sound substantial, this is only about 3% of the global fleet capacity.

One sector where there has been speculative newbuilding is in subsea offshore construction vessels. There are about 25 OCVs on order, many without long-term charters. An analysis by Fearnley Offshore Supply, senior market analyst, Jesper Skjong, suggests that Tier 1 EPC contractors, which have near-record backlogs at US$50Bn, are biding their time before inking any long-term charter deals. These contractors are watching and waiting for the latter half of 2026 and 2027 when these OCV newbuilds start to deliver, increasing available capacity and, in turn, softening day rates.

“The pipeline of US offshore wind projects shrunk significantly in 2025 because of US policy”

Tidewater, the world’s largest OSV owner, has yet to pull the trigger on any newbuilds, instead preferring to acquire high-spec assets through some significant acquisitions over the last few years. The Big Board-listed owner could well be in the hunt for a new M&A opportunity. It built a substantial amount of cash during Q3 2025 but did not make any significant stock repurchases, suggesting it might be eyeing a potential M&A opportunity. In the past, Tidewater had been looking to strengthen its footprint in the Americas.

And speaking of the Americas, Brazil, Guyana and Suriname continue to be among the year’s biggest offshore oil and gas stories. Oil and gas majors and NOCs have been making substantial investments, and discoveries, in the region, driving long-term demand for OSVs and floating production, storage and offloading units.

Meanwhile, Presidential executive orders and policy changes issued by the Trump Administration and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act have dealt significant blows to US offshore wind, restricting areas of development, issuing stop-work orders, reducing tax credit availability, and increasing steel and turbine component costs.

According to a recent industry report, the pipeline of US offshore wind projects shrunk significantly in 2025 because of US policy. The Energy Industries Council US Offshore Wind Insight report said projects fell from 45 to 23 over the past year, with planned capacity dropping from 55.9 GW to 25.4 GW.

In the Trump Administration’s latest action, the Department of Interior issued a pause on leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects in the US, citing ’national security concerns.’ The pause, which could last for 90 days and be extended is another huge blow for offshore wind developers like Ørsted and Dominion Energy, and hurts US companies supporting the offshore wind supply chain. US mariners, offshore vessel companies, ports and shipyards will all suffer from the action.

But bright spots for offshore wind in the US remain. EIC points out that one those is California, where the state has incorporated offshore wind ports into a five-year infrastructure plan and secured bond funding, including US$475M for ports and a US$20M award for the Port of Long Beach. The CADEMO floating project, a 60-MW venture in state waters targeting a 2028 operational date, remains unaffected by federal outer shelf reversals.

While 2025 was a year of disruption and uncertainty, headwinds should subside in 2026, with prospects for continued investment in all forms of offshore energy driving demand for OSVs.