New Offshore Shipping Player Buys Six PSVs

Newly-established offshore shipping company Nordic American Offshore ( NAO ) has agreed to acquire six platform supply vessels from Blue Ship Invest ( BSI ). The vessels are of the PX121 type, and were designed and constructed by ULSTEIN in 2012-13. NAO has its source from the international tanker company Nordic American Tankers ( NAT ).

“We are very pleased with this agreement with NAO,” says Gunvor Ulstein, CEO, Ulstein Group.

“We invested in these ships because we wanted to introduce new products with flexible and first-class innovative solutions to the market. All the ships have been regularly in work since delivery and feedback has been very good. We strongly believe that NAO will be satisfied with these vessels.”

Chairman of the Board and CEO of NAT is Herbjørn Hansson, who has been in the maritime industry since the 1970s. He says: “We have significant experience in the offshore sector. We believe there will be an increase in the demand for offshore supply services, and that these vessels will have the properties that we need for our fleet.”

ULSTEIN’s decision to focus on these ship types resulted from careful market analysis. In the North Sea these platform supply vessels (PSVs) are considered medium-sized, and they have an optimum combination of fuel efficiency and deadweight. They have a capacity and performance that approaches those of  larger PSVs. They can take on most of the tasks usually handled by slightly larger PSVs, but at a lower operating cost.

BSI is an investment company in ULSTEIN. Lars Olsen Lühr, managing director, BSI, says that he is entirely satisfied with the cooperation from the companies that are responsible for the management and operation of the six vessels. “The crews have contributed to providing excellent services to the charterers for whom these vessels have been working,” he says.

Because of their X-BOW® hull line, the vessels are efficient at various draughts, an important asset for PSVs which transport varying amounts of load. In addition, the X-BOW has unique advantages in terms of soft movements and propulsion efficiency in heavy seas. The combination of their hull design and propulsion system makes these vessels particularly well suited to the harsh conditions of both the North Sea and the North Atlantic.

The BSI ships built by ULSTEIN are the first vessels of the PX121 design. Currently, several shipping companies have seen the potential of these ship types and a total of six other vessels of the PX121 design have been contracted for construction at various shipyards internationally.

Nordic American Offshore

“The establishment of Nordic American Offshore with a capital contribution from NAT is a move with the objective to increase the dividend payments to shareholders of Nordic American Tankers,” said NAT Chairman and CEO Herbjørn Hansson. “We have significant expertise in the offshore sector, and we think this new offshore business venture will help maximize total return to NAT shareholders. We wish to extract cost synergies and to leverage the NAT customer relationship in the energy business. Our presence in the US capital market will also help us to achieve our objectives for this new project.”

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November 01, 2013