Solstad vessel wins five-year job in Australia

Norwegian vessel owner Solstad Offshore has been awarded a long-term contract for its platform supply vessel with “a major international company” in Australia.

Solstad said on Thursday that the contract was awarded to the PSV Normand Skimmer.

The vessel has been contracted for a period of five years plus options to support operations offshore North-Western Australia from the fourth quarter of 2020.

During the campaign, the vessel will operate from Dampier, servicing production activities in the region.

The Normand Skimmer is a PSV of an 08CD design built in 2012.

Solstad has not released any further details about the contract.

Solstad Offshore has recently received a notice of early termination of the charter party for the Normand Maximus vessel from Italian offshore contractor Saipem.

In a separate update on Thursday, Solstad said that the time charter for Normand Maximus entitled Saipem to terminate the charter party for convenience against payment of an early termination fee to Solstad’s subsidiary Normand Maximus Operations Limited as a disponent owner of the vessel.

The notice period for the termination under the time charter is 45 days meaning that the termination of the time charter will be effective and the vessel redelivered on or around 2 November 2020.

The termination fee is in the amount of approximately $44 million.

Normand Maximus is financed under a financial lease between Maximus Limited as the owner and the SOFF subsidiary as bareboat charterer.

Solstad holds a 25 per cent ownership share in the leasing company Maximus Limited.

The financial lease is guaranteed by Solstad and includes customary prepayment events and default provisions. These may i.a require the Solstad subsidiary to purchase the vessel if the subsidiary is not able to secure new employment for the vessel.

Solstad said it expects that the vessel will be engaged on new projects within a reasonable time.

The company and its subsidiary are exploring the market opportunities and Solstad is now engaging in dialogue with the leasing company Maximus Limited with a view to agreeing on a solution for the financial lease taking into account the early termination by Saipem.