Solstad terminates charters for three laid up anchor handlers

Norwegian offshore vessel operator Solstad Offshore has terminated bareboat charter agreements for three anchor handlers owned by SFL Corporation. The vessels have been in lay-up since 2016. 

Solstad Offshore said on Tuesday that the company and SFL Corporation had agreed to terminate the bareboat charter agreements for three medium size AHTS vessels, Sea Cheetah, Sea Jaguar, and Sea Leopard.

The vessels are expected to be handed back to SFL during the first quarter of 2020. All three vessels have been laid up since 2016.

Solstad had a total of five vessels on charter with SFL and the two remaining vessels on bareboat charter agreements stay unchanged.

In a quarterly report on Tuesday, SFL said that the market for offshore support vessels is very challenging and the vessels have remained in lay up since 2016. In light of the difficult market, Solstad has announced that it will have to restructure its balance sheet and has agreed a standstill agreement with stakeholders and lenders, including SFL, until March 31, 2020.

In February 2020, SFL agreed with Solstad to terminate the charter agreements for three of the vessels given the market outlook for these particular vessels.

SFL said that two vessels had been sold to an unrelated third party, while one vessel would be recycled in Norway at a green recycling facility according to the European Ship Recycling Regulation. The termination is not affecting the ongoing standstill agreement.

As a result of the transactions and continued uncertainty around the remaining assets, SFL recorded a noncash impairment of $34.1 million in the fourth quarter.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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