Ocean Yield to book $130 million in impairments for two vessels

Norwegian vessel owner Ocean Yield expects to book impairments of $130 million in total in its 3Q 2020 financial statements for an FPSO and offshore construction and cable-lay vessel.

According to Ocean Yield, the COVID-19 pandemic and a lower oil price have led to an expected delay in the recovery within the oil-service segment.

For the FPSO Dhirubhai-1, employment opportunities are currently under evaluation, but there is a risk both with respect to the timeline of these projects and the sales price that can be achieved.

The company said in July 2020 that three projects were being evaluated and the work on these projects was continuing, despite the low oil price and the pandemic.

However, there is uncertainty with respect to project timelines.

Therefore, Ocean Yield said on Monday that it expects to record impairments in its 3Q 2020 consolidated financial statements, estimated to $95 million for the FPSO and $35 million for the offshore construction and cable-lay vessel Connector.

The impairments will reduce depreciation expenses in 2021 by about $12.7 million, the company stated.

Ocean Yield emphasized it has a strong cash position, headroom to bank covenants and a large portfolio of modern vessels on long-term charters generating a stable cash flow.

The current dividend level enables further investments without requiring new equity.

It is the board of directors’ intention to pay stable and, over time, increasing dividends, Ocean Yield concluded.

It is worth reminding that the FPSO Dhirubhai-1 had previously been considered for use on an Aker Energy-operated project in Ghana.

In related news, Aker Energy in February 2020 entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Yinson to award a bareboat charter and an operations and maintenance contract for an FPSO vessel at the Pecan field, offshore Ghana.

But the deal with Yinson did not turn out as planned. Namely, Aker Energy in April postponed the development of its Pecan field. As a result, Aker Energy terminated its agreement with Yinson for the provision of an FPSO for the project.