Indonesian vessel owner reveals growth strategy to take advantage of ‘upturn in drilling’

Indonesian offshore marine services company Wintermar has disclosed its new growth strategy, aiming to benefit from an increase in demand in the oil and gas industry while also anticipating higher use of its vessels within the offshore wind sector in the future.

Wintermar unveiled its growth strategy on Friday, 24 June 2022, to position itself for an anticipated “upturn in drilling.” This comes after offshore supply vessel (OSV) utilisation improved globally and charter rates started to pick up, thanks to the rise in global rig count over the past few months.

To gear up for a new drilling cycle, the company invested $12 million to acquire three platform supply vessels (PSVs) and three anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels since November 2021.

Furthermore, the Indonesian player has improved its fleet composition through the sale and reinvestment of certain vessels to raise the yield of the fleet with 95 per cent now concentrated into higher value vessels.

Currently, the firm has seven PSVs, three of which are undergoing docking for reactivation and should be ready for operations by the second half of 2022. Wintermar outlines that this is timed in anticipation of a stronger 2023, as there has been an increase in project approvals for offshore drilling and a corresponding rise in demand for OSVs.

Following several years of net losses, Janto Lili, Wintermar’s Finance Director, informed that the firm had succeeded in controlling costs while continuing to repay debt with a net profit after tax of $0.2 million in 2021. In addition, net gearing was reduced to 14.7 per cent by end of March 2022.

Sugiman Layanto, Wintermar’s Managing Director, outlined an optimistic view for the coming years. The OSV charter rates are projected to rise due to the demand for OSVs rising in line with the jump in offshore drilling projects, while the supply of operationally ready OSVs is still limited due to the industry downturn over the past years.

According to the Indonesian player, longer-term investments in renewable energy are expected to grow while investments in oil and gas are still projected to be stable to meet the energy needs of the world. Therefore, as an OSV operator, Wintermar will “benefit from higher demand for vessels initially from oil and gas industry but in the coming years, additional upside in demand is expected from the offshore wind industry.”

The company intends to keep its focus on higher-value vessels to improve fleet yields and continue to improve cost efficiency, adding that its contracts on hand amounted to $64 million at end of May 2022.

When it comes to some of Wintermar’s long-term deals, it is worth reminding that the firm won a five-year contract last May to provide two OSVs for an Indonesian oil and gas company.