K Line is selling the offshore vessel fleet of its Norwegian unit K Line Offshore as it winds up the company.
The platform supply vessel and anchor-handling tug supply ship subsidiary was set up in 2007 in Arendal but has endured many years of terrible markets.
The Japanese shipping giant said it had expected stable demand in the oil and gas fields of the North Sea.
But the offshore company "has long struggled after energy price decline, heavily affected by dropped market since then".
After careful consideration, the group found the best solution would be to dissolve the unit and offload the fleet, due to the poor prospects for profit, K Line said.
Run by chief executive Tomoyuki Okawa with one other employee, K Line Offshore has registered capital of NOK 2.7bn ($300m), and total assets of NOK 1.9bn as of 31 March.
VesselsValue assesses the fleet of four PSVs and two AHTS ships built in 2010 and 2011 as worth $98m.
Buyer steps in
A fleet disposal looks to already have been agreed with a third party.
K Line said it is not naming the new owner or the sales price or asset values involved at the request of the buyer.
Delivery will take place in the first three months of 2022, with K Line Offshore ceasing to exist before the end of September.
It remains to be seen whether the vessels will continue to be run in the recovering North Sea market, or shifted elsewhere, possibly into non-oil and gas-related sectors.
The group expects to book an impairment loss of ¥13bn ($114m) as a result of the sales, as well as a loss of ¥4bn as a provision for the liquidation.
Then there is a loss of ¥24bn from a devaluation of the subsidiary's shares.
K Line does not expect to change its financial forecasts for the year ending 31 March, 2022, however.
