Equinor hands out supply vessel deals

Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor has awarded Havila Shipping three-year contracts for the Havila Charisma and Havila Foresight platform supply vessels.

Equinor said on Thursday that both contracts include four one-year options for both vessels and have a total framework of close to NOK 800 million ($91.6 million).

The total framework includes options and costs related to Havila Charisma modifications.

“We have received safe and efficient deliveries from Havila Shipping for several years and look forward to continuing our cooperation with the shipping company. Long-term contracts bring predictability to both Equinor and our suppliers, and form the basis of continuous improvement”, said Peggy Krantz-Underland, Equinor’s chief procurement officer.

The vessels are part of a fleet of supply vessels supporting Equinor’s operations on the entire Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Havila Charisma will also be modified to support seismic services in the form of permanent reservoir monitoring. This includes increased accommodation capacity.

The vessel’s capacities for supply duties will remain unchanged. Havila Charisma will sail from the supply base in Florø when it is not on seismic assignments.

According to a separate statement from Havila, both vessels have served Equinor from delivery, Havila Foresight since January 2008, and Havila Charisma since December 2012.

“The supply vessels along the entire Norwegian coast are the vital nerve of the more than 40 fields we operate on the NCS. By modifying Havila Charisma to provide seismic services in addition to supply services, we are utilizing our scale advantage to achieve higher efficiency and flexibility in our operations”, said Morten Sundt, who is leading Equinor’s supply vessel activities on the NCS.

Havila Foresight has its home base at Equinor’s supply base at Mongstad. With the new contract, Havila Foresight will have supplied Equinor’s installations from Mongstad for 15 years.

Both vessels have previously been fitted with a battery and adapted for shore power, which increases safety and reduces CO2 emissions. All vessels on longer-term contracts for Equinor (approx. 20 vessels) have, or will have, a battery and a shore-power system within 2021.

The two Havila vessels are among the most fuel-efficient vessels in Equinor’s fleet of supply vessels.

Previously, the vessels have been modified to ensure safer operations on board, such as heightened cargo rail on Havila Foresight’s loading deck.