Rem Offshore Sells One Vessel, Delays Another at Vard

Rem Forza. Photo: Rem Offshore

Norwegian shipowner Rem Offshore says it has agreed to sell a construction support vessel (CSV) and delay delivery newbuild offshore construction vessel (OCV) at Vard.

The agreements were announced separately on Monday in disclosers to the Oslo Børs stock exchange.

Rem Offshore said that due to market conditions, it has reached an agreement with Vard Group As to postpone delivery of the newbuild OCV ordered in June 2014 until the first quarter of 2018.

The company also said that it has entered into an agreement to the CSV, Rem Forza, to an international customer revealed by news reports as Maersk Supply Service. The 2008-built Rem Forza is currently contracted to a unit of DeepOcean for work offshore Ghana.

“Being part of a Group with a strong balance sheet allows us to take advantage of the opportunities arising in the industry,” Jørn Madsen, CEO of Maersk Supply Service, said. “This acquisition of a quality asset is fully in line with our strategic ambition of growing our subsea fleet and at the same time adds contract coverage during a period of market downturn.”

The delivery of the Rem Forza is expected to take place shortly. Rem Offshore added that the sale will give it a booked profit and net cash of approximately NOK 200 million (USD$ 22.8 million) after repayment of debt.

Rem Offshore’s fleet currently consists of 20 vessels, comprising 2 OCVs, 12 platform supply vessels (PSVs) and 6 CSVs, plus 1 vessel under construction.

According to Rem Offshore’s website, it currently has 3 PSVs in lay-up, which seems pretty good considering there are close to 100 offshore vessels laid up in the North Sea.

The announcement comes as benchmark Brent oil slid to its lowest price since mid-2004 – $36.04.