Joint venture formed to own and operate 2009-built subsea vessel

Eidesvik Offshore and Reach Subsea have formed a joint venture for the ownership and operation of the subsea inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) vessel Edda Sun, with Eidesvik as the majority stakeholder.

Through the formation of the JV, the Norwegian companies have partnered up to acquire the vessel. Eidesvik will own 50.1 per cent of the new entity, with Reach Subsea owning 49.9 per cent.

Under its new name Viking Reach, the vessel will begin a six-year contract with Reach Subsea at the start of the second quarter of the year.

Eidesvik will provide full technical management, crewing and operation of the vessel.

“Our new financial terms will offer us a solid foundation for growing our business. The acquisition of Edda Sun is part of the company’s growth strategy and we are pleased to expand our fleet with this highly versatile vessel. We look forward to cooperating with Reach Subsea in this exciting new venture,” said Eidesvik Offshore CEO Gitte Gard Talmo. 

Reach Subsea announced the acquisition of Edda Sun for $29 million in November 2022. With this new JV, the acquisition is fully financed.

The JV will be financed by equity from both parties and by around NOK 150 million (around €1.37 million) of bank financing, which has been credit approved and final documents are currently being completed.

Settlement of the acquisition and delivery of the vessel are expected to take place in March.

“Eidesvik has been a strategic partner for Reach Subsea for many years and we are pleased to further strengthen our relationship. We are currently seeing record high activity in the subsea market and this joint venture represents an important step for us in terms of securing a long-term core fleet portfolio,” said CEO of Reach Subsea, Jostein Alendal. 

Viking Reach will operate in the subsea market. It is suited for survey and light construction projects and will be mobilized with one Supporter work-class remotely operated vehicle (WROV) and one Surveyor ROV.

The announcement of the JV follows news that Eidesvik had reached an agreement with its financial institutions on terms for refinancing the company’s debt until February 2026. The final agreement is expected to be in place in March.

In addition to the acquisition of Edda Sun, Reach Subsea recently entered into long-term charters of the subsea support vessels Deep Cygnus, Go Electra, and Olympic Triton.

“With this we have secured a strong fleet at attractive terms. Being an end-to-end subsea service provider, we are now ready for continued growth in a strong market,” said Alendal.