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could be some keen rates on offer as those Owners with vessels with forward commitments look to min-imise downtime. We are also expecting several new-build PSVs to enter the picture over the next few weeks which will be welcome news for Charterers as
we approach the traditionally busier sum-mer season. It’s also worth noting that while the situa-tion facing helicopters in the North Sea ap-pears to have improved, there still seems to be a shortage of aircraft and Charterers are likely to continue to look at alternative op-tions for passenger transfers, particularly those vessels that are SPS compliant.
T he past thirty days or so have demon-strated just how volatile and unpre-dictable the North Sea spot market can be. The month began with a
plethora of anchor handlers to choose from, particularly in Aberdeen, but as the weather warmed up, so did the market and as the month drew to a close, vessels were reported-ly being fixed around GBP 100k per day for the first time since early 2013. It has been a similar story for platform supply vessels. An overcrowded market in the early part of the month meant that rates generally remained below GBP 10k per day, but a spate of activity around the middle of the month, including a handful of two to four week short term fixtures with prompt commencements, seemed to provide the catalyst for an entirely different market in the latter part of the month when PSVs in the UK and Norway were regularly being fixed in the mid to high teens and in some cases above GBP 20k per day. We also witnessed an increase in ‘off market’ ac-
tivity as Charterers looked to se-cure vessels ‘under the radar’. Earlier in April, Brazilian oil giant Petrobras announced the results of its recent tender which includ-ed a couple of vessels from the North Sea which are expected to depart imminently. There have
also been some ad-ditional longer term fixtures announced while we await the results of various other outstanding medium and long term tenders. Despite the recent flurry of activity in the North Sea, there
ConocoPhillips Norway has chartered the medium sized PSV for at least 86 days. The VS-470 designed vessel is cur-rently working for Statoil and is expected to switch across to the new contract next week where it will be working in a Standby role. In addition to the firm period, the charterer will also hold options to extend the fixture by a further two one-week periods. The Stril Neptun is a DP2 vessel equipped with a deck area of around 580 square metres.
There are four outstanding long-term requirements: 1 x PSV / Centrica / 1 well +4 x 1well opts / June-Jul 2013 1 x PSV / Shell N / 1,3 or 5 years / comm 15th July 1 x PSV / Peterson SBS / 1 year + 2x1yr opts / Aug 2013 2 x PSV / Shell UK / 5 years + opts / Q2 2013+Jan 2014
ADTI has chartered two PSVs to support work being carried by Ensco rigs in the North Sea. Both are due to commence in late May/early June after brief yard visits to Hartlepool. The Malaviya 7 has been fixed for a period of four wells firm to support the Ensco 100 rig at the Stella location. The con-tract which is expected to last for at least 360 days also in-cludes options for three additional wells. In addition, the Rem Provider has been fixed to support a well by the Ensco 101 for around 120 days.
There are three outstanding medium-term requirements: 1 x AHTS / Maersk Drilling / Chain Work-Egypt 90 days / May 1 x PSV / E.On / 3 months+6x1 wk opts + D/D14 / May 1 x PSV / ConocoPhillips N / 32 days + D/D14 comm 30.5
The large PSV Rem Fortune has secured a two year char-ter with ConocoPhillips Norway. The newbuild vessel scheduled for delivery in May and is expected join the North Sea spot market before commencing the term contract in July which is also includes an additional one-year option. The VS-485 MKIII designed vessel will be equipped with DP2 and a deck area of around 1,004 m2. The dayrate for the term work is understood to be around GBP 19,000.
Allseas has fixed a pair of large PSVs including the recently delivered Fanning Tide. The STX PSV 09 CD designed ves-sel has been chartered along with the UP Jasper to carry out pipehaul work. The modern vessels are equipped with DP2 and deck areas of over 1,000 m2. Both vessels have been chartered for 50 to 65 days and will commence the work West of Shetland around the end of May before pro-gressing to the Central North Sea to assist other projects.
The Brage Trader has been fixed to support the work of the GAIII rig for SPD. The vessel has been chartered for between 60 and 90 days at a rate of around GBP 18,500. The Brage Trader is an STX PSV 09 CD designed vessel equipped with DP2 and a deck area of around 1,000m2. The vessel is cur-rently working on the North Sea spot market for Maersk Oil UK and is expected to commence the contract for SPD in late June or July. The Brage Trader will then return to the spot market at some point between August and October.
BG Group has chartered the Blue Power on a five year firm deal with options for a further two years. The vessel is the third of a series of six medium sized PX121 designed vessels built for Blue Ship Invest which is a wholly company of the Ulstein Group. The vessels are being managed by Atlantic Offshore. Meanwhile, the hull of the Blue Protector was launched last month at the Zaliv Shipyard. The dayrate for the vessel is rumoured to be GBP 16,000.
For the latest on the subsea construction and survey vessel availabilities please contact us for a copy of our Subsea Vessel Market Summary. The list is put together weekly by Graeme Riddell who is based in our Aberdeen office. We are constantly monitoring the requirements, fixtures and availability of the North Sea fleet. For more information email us.
The large PSV Toisa Intrepid has been fixed by CNR for at least three years firm and a further three one-year op-tions. The 1998-built Toisa Intrepid has a deck area of around 936 square metres and has accommodation for up to 27 personnel. The vessel will be utilised in a gen-eral pool support role in the UK North Sea. The charter commenced last week after a lengthy tender process.
Skansi Offshore’s newbuild large PSV has been fixed by BG Norge on a one-year firm contract with options for further year and four three-month period. The vessel is a Havyard 833 design that was originally ordered by a different own-er and is set for delivery in June 2013 when it will com-mence the charter. The vessel is currently being built at the Leirvik shipyard in Sogn, Norway. It will have and LOA of 86.8m, breadth of 19.6m and a deck area of around 1,000m2.
A total of four vessel have been chartered on medi-um or long-term charters by BP UK in the past few weeks. These include the IMT-98 designed medium sized PSV Grampian Talisker for 5-years, the VOS Precious for 2 years , the SBS Tempest for around nine months and the Idun Viking which has been fixed for 14 months plus options. All of the vessels will be carrying out general pool support duties.
The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has taken delivery of its latest newbuild AHTS vessel SCI Urja. The vessel is the last of a series of 120t bollard pull sister ships and is equipped with DP1, Fifi and is UKOOA (c) compliant. The vessel will be used to support the Indian offshore sector. The SCI Urja is an AH-03 designed vessel with an LOA of 65.2m. The vessel will be registered under Indian Flag with Mumbai as the home port.
Vard has signed a Letter of Intent with Simon Mokster Shipping for design and construction of a platform sup-ply vessel. The PSV 06 LNG designed vessel is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2015 from Vard in Norway although the hull will be delivered from Vard in Romania. The vessel will be a Clean Design environmen-tally friendly dual fuel LNG/diesel electric ship.
Kuma Shipping has ordered two PSVs from Ulstein. The vessels, which are of the new P128 design, will be aimed at serving the general support market related to workover barges and jackup rigs. They will have an LOA of 71.5m by 15m with a deadweight of approximately 3,000 tonnes. The deck areas will be around 610m2 and able to accom-modate four lengths of 12m casing pipes. The vessels will be constructed a Chinese shipyard with delivery planned for 2014.
Orange subsidiary France Telecom Marine has announced the order of a new cable ship that will be operational in the summer of 2014. The vessel, which will be called Pierre de Fermat, will be designed to manage the installation and maintenance of all kinds of submarine cables including fi-bre optic and energy cables. The vessel will also be equipped with an ROV and have DP2, accommodation for 80 and a 80t Bollard Pull. France Telecom has commis-sioned VARD for the project.
Premier Oil has announced that first oil production from
the Huntington field has commenced. The field, in the cen-
tral North Sea, which utilises the Voyageur Spirit FPSO, a
six well subsea drilling template and a 12 kilometre gas
export pipeline connected to the BP CATS transportation
system. The field is located around 230km offshore in a
water depth of around 90m.
Kosmos Energy has entered into two farm-in agreements in Ireland. The deal sees the company acquire a 75 per cent participating interest and operatorship in Licensing Option 11/5 and an 85 per cent operating interest in Li-censing Options 11/7 and 11/8. Contingent upon an elec-tion by Kosmos and Europa to enter a subsequent explo-ration drilling phase on one or more of the blocks, Kosmos will also fund 100 per cent of the costs of the first explora-tion well on each block.
Taqa has received Government approval for its Cladhan field development plan. The initial phase of the develop-ment will consist of two producer wells and one injection well with production tied back to Taqa’s Tern Alpha platform 17.5km away. According Taqa Managing Director Leo Koot “Developing Cladhan as a tie back to Tern sup-ports Taqa’s strategy to invest in our infrastructure as we recognise the crucial part it plays in allowing us to maxim-ise recovery from the northern North Sea.”
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate releases details of ex-ploration and production activities on the Norwegian Continental shelf. According to the figures there were 76 producing fields on the shelf including six new fields which started production in 2012 and a further thirteen which are undergoing development. In total there are 30 filed and discoveries which are in the planning phase and 12 which are currently shut down.
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Enquest has awarded a minimum five year contract to North Star for the provision of a vessel to support their Central North Sea operations from later this year. The same operator is now tendering for a vessel for two to three years to support the Stena Spey from late May. The rig is currently undergoing repairs, maintenance and upgrades in Rotterdam.
BP has officially announced the outcome of their five vessel ERRV tender and, as expected, the status quo has been effec-tively retained. North Star has secured three contracts and Vroon Offshore has two. It is understood all five contracts are for 5-10 years and commence in Q3 2013. North star will pro-vide the tanker assist vessel Grampian Frontier which has been on charter to BP since delivery in 1997. Grampian Con-quest and the Grampian Dee have also been fixed along with an option for fourth vessel. The PSV Grampian Talisker has also been extender for a similar period.
Centrica is currently tendering for a vessel to support a one to five well contract (of up to 400 days or more) for a drilling programme in the Greater Markham area in the South North Sea with the Noble Byron Welliver. The rig is currently undergoing repairs, upgrades and maintenance in Rotterdam. Tal-isman also remains outstanding for a vessel for six to twelve months from late May for support of the Rowan Stavanger rig in the Central North Sea. Teekay Petrojarl Production is also tendering for a vessel from Sept/Oct to the end of 2014 for support of the Banff field FPSO. Interestingly, at a time when vessel availability is extremely tight, these outstanding requirements will effectively increase ‘net’ demand as there is no incumbent vessel currently supporting these installations. This suggests Charterers can expect little respite from prevailing market conditions in the medium term.
Vroon has secured an extension for two existing vessel, namely the Class B VOS Venturer and the Class A VOS Vigi-lant. One of these field support vessel will be replaced by a newbuilding that is currently under construction in China. These contract awards effectively cover BP’s ERRV require-ments for installation that are not covered by Project Jig-saw. Project Jigsaw commenced in 2006 with the deploy-ment of four large 93m PSVs (IMT 992 design) each equipped with twin autonomous rescue and recover craft.
The jackup vessel Brave Tern is expected to install the Meteorological Mast for the Firth of Forth windfarm in the coming days. The vessel, which is operated by Fred Olsen Windcarrier, will be working for around three weeks in total. The vessel is expected to take around four days to carry out foundation installation with a further two weeks for topside installation and commissioning. The mast will have a maximum height of 120m.
Seacat Services has secured a number contracts for work on five separate windfamr projects. The deals include work at projects at Meerwind, West of Duddon Sands and Greater Gabbard. The company has also confirmed the redeployment of the Seacat Reliance and Seacat Endeavour at Greater Gabbard where they were originally placed on a three –month charter agreement.
Gulf Marine Services has won three new contracts worth a total of around USD 46 million. The work covers trans-former installation in the German offshore sector and will utilise the jack-up barge GMS Endeavour. The vessel has previously been working on wind farm installations and maintenance contracts and has work through to the sec-ond quarter of 2014. Meanwhile, the sister barge GMS Endurance has recently begun a new contract with Cono-coPhillips in the Southern North Sea.
The first electricity has been produced by the EDF’s Teeside Offshore Windfarm. The first of three wind tur-bine generators have now been fully commissioned. The 27 wind turbine project will provide around 62MW of power once complete. The MPI Adventure jackup installation vessel has so far installed 18 turbines.