Uptime in gangway supply deal with Island Offshore

Norway’s Uptime International has entered into two new contracts with compatriot vessel provider Island Offshore.

Uptime said on Thursday that the first contract was a rental agreement for an Uptime 23,4m active motion compensated gangway for a seven-month period, starting April 1, 2019.

The second deal is for the purchase of Uptime 30m active motion compensated gangway with autonomous landing. This gangway is contracted to be delivered in 2020.

The gangways will be used on the Island Clipper vessel which won a three-year contract with Equinor in late October.

The vessel’s deal with Equinor is scheduled to begin on the same day as Uptime’s deal with Island Offshore – April 1, 2019. The charter contract for the vessel also includes options for up two additional years.

According to information from Island offshore, the vessel is arranged to operate as an accommodation vessel during maintenance work at Equinor’s installations and can accommodate 60 persons.

Sales and marketing manager of Uptime, Svein Ove Haugen, said: “This contract states that our range of gangways are very compatible for both the wind industry and oil and gas where these gangways are going to be used in.”

In a separate statement released last month, Håvard Ulstein, managing director of Island Offshore Management, said: “This is a very exciting project for us, and it is especially gratifying to be awarded such a long-term contract after some tough years in the offshore market.

“With Island Clipper, we have four platform supply vessels which has been adapted for walk-to-work duties, and this proves that our belief in this segment was entirely right.”