Two Oil Production Ships For Sale

Shipping companies Aker Maritime and Bergesen will sell two oil production ships, the Berge Hugin and Navion Nunin, which they co-own with Norwegian energy giant Statoil. "We have agreed with the other owners to sell those production ships," said a spokesman for Aker Maritime. "The formal sales process has been initiated." Aker Maritime is a 50/50 co-owner with Statoil of the topside processing equipment of both ships. No sale price was given. Statoil declined to comment. Shipping sources close to the deal said, "They hope to sell them during the first half of the year, but they want to get a good price, so they'll wait as long as it takes." Navion Nunin is co-owned by Statoil and its tanker subsidiary Navion, in which it holds an 80 percent stake. It is on charter to Statoil until 2004, and is stationed at the Lufeng field in China. Berge Hugin is co-owned by Statoil and Norwegian tanker group Bergesen. It is on time-charter to Enterprise Oil until 2013 and is stationed at the Pierce field in the North Sea. - (Reuters)