World Wide Supply to Lay Up Two PSVs

World Diamond file photo courtesy Damen Shipyards

Norwegian platform supply vessel owner World Wide Supply says that the weak spot market in the UK sector of the North Sea has forced it to lay-up two vessels.

World Wide Supply (WWS) owns a fleet of six Damen PSV 3300 CD vessels all delivered in 2013. Four of the vessels are on four-year contracts with Petrobras in Brazil ending in June 2018, while the remaining two have been working in the UK North Sea spot market since the middle of February 2015.

Like most others in the offshore services industry, WWS is feeling the squeeze of crashing oil prices, which has severely weakened the demand for offshore vessels such as PSVs, particularly those operating in the spot market.

In its quarterly interim report released Thursday, WWS said that it expects a challenging market for the rest of 2015 as well as 2016. The company reported a pre-tax loss of US $9 million in Q2 2015.

The company added that the cash flow from the four vessels working in Brazil will cover the financial expenses and lay up costs. As of June 30, 2015, WWS had 188 employees, of which 184 were seagoing personnel.

World Wide Supply indicated back in May that the two vessels would be laid up, resulting in the termination of 48 crew.

The two vessels – World Diamond and World Pearl – will be laid up beginning September 1, 2015.

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