Aker BP Charters Large PSV from Solstad Offshore

Norwegian oil and gas company Aker BP has chartered Solstad Offshore's large platform supply vessel Normand Arctic.

The platform supplier will be used to support Aker BP's activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

According to the shipowner, the contract is expected to start during the fourth quarter of 2022. The contract is for a period of 15 months. Financial information was not disclosed.

Earlier this week, Solstad Offshore said that it expected that the Russian 'tragic' invasion of Ukraine to increase focus on energy security and could lead to more investments in offshore energy.

The company said that it saw increasing activity in the North Sea and Brazil, with activity in other regions is also improving

"Global demand for offshore vessels continues to improve. Due to the limited new supply of vessels, the supply/demand balance is tightening," Solstad Offshore said in its quarterly presentation on Tuesday.

The company sees continued high tendering activity from all offshore energy segments, with some vessel types possibly in shortage already in 2022.

Solstad booked more than 2,6 billion NOK (USD $269,4 million) of new backlog in 1Q 2022, which, the company said, was its fourth consecutive quarter with a book-to-bill ratio of more than 1x.

On average, Solstad said Tuesday, 78 vessels were operational in 1Q 2022, with average utilization of 81%.