Solstad Offshore Offloads Anchor Handling Trio, Nabs UK Work for PSV Duo
Offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore said Thursday it had sold three anchor handling vessels to undisclosed buyers, and also secured work for two platform supply vessels in the UK North Sea.
Haugesund, Norway-based company said Thursday it had sold the Nor Captain - owned by its subsidiary Solstad Offshore Singapore - and Far Sword and Far Stream, owned by its subsidiary Farstad Supply.
"Delivery of the vessels to the new owner took place today, February 3rd, 2022. The sale of the vessels will result in an immaterial accounting effect," Solstad Offshore said.
Back in 2020, Solstad Offshore said that, as part of its restructuring agreement, it would "right-size" its fleet to make it more competitive, with a plan to divest 37 vessels "over a period of time."
Solstad said at the time that the aim was to reduce fleet size to a level of 80-90 vessels, a target it expected to achieve by the end of 2021.
Some vessels are sold for recycling, some for non-oil & gas activity, and some for geographical areas where the company has limited access.
Here is what Lars Peder Solstad had to say at the end of 2021 regarding the company's progress with the fleet trimming: "...we have made huge effort to sell off the vessels that will not be part of the future Solstad fleet. 25 vessels sold in less than a year is impressive. We still have a few more to sell, and by mid-2022 we don't expect many vessels left a the lay-up sites we have on the Norwegian coast and in Asia."
Platform supplier contracts
In a separate statement on Thursday, Solstad Offshore said it had won a term deal for the platform supply vessel Normand Sitella with an undisclosed operator in the UK North Sea. The one-year contract, of an undisclosed value, is expected to start in March 2022. , with two optional years. The client will have an option to extend the deal for two more years.
"Sitella will join the Solstad owned PSVs Sea Falcon and Sea Forth working on term contract for the same UK Operator.
Furthermore, Solstad said that a one-year option on the Sea Forth PSV contract had been declared. This means the vessel is now on the firm contract until March 2023, with a further optional year remaining.
