Maersk Supply Service has completed a vast fleet renewal programme, but a question mark still hangs over the company's future.
The offshore support vessel specialist is the last of AP Moller-Maersk's four energy businesses yet to find a plan to separate from the group as part of a major strategy shift.
In the past three years, Maersk Supply has divested 23 platform support vessels and anchor handlers (AHTS), and taken delivery of 10 new AHTS and subsea support vessels.
The 5,000-dwt Maersk Maker (built 2019) is the last ship to be delivered from the Kleven yard in Norway.
The 94-metre-long AHTS has bollard pull of 260 tonnes and engine output of more than 23,000 bhp.
“It has been a priority for us to do our part in addressing the oversupply in the industry, as well as strengthening our asset base for project delivery,” Maersk Supply chief executive Steen Karstensen said.
Maersk Maker’s arrival means Maersk Supply’s 44-vessel fleet has an average age of eight years and a market value of around $731m, according to VesselsValue
The fully delivered fleet may make the business a more attractive acquisition target.
Maersk Supply remains one of the remaining marine businesses outside of the parent company's core container activities that has not been spun off, following a reorganisation launched in 2016.
Maersk Supply would not be drawn on what the future may hold for its business.
"As communicated in September 2016, the [AP Moller-Maersk] group is looking to find a new structural solution for its energy-related businesses," a spokeswoman told TradeWinds on Friday.
"We are continuing our current strategy of pursuing long-term contracts and delivering high-quality offshore operations worldwide."
Over the past three years, the Danish group has sold off its oil and gas unit and its tanker business. It hopes to list Maersk Drilling this year.
In early February, AP Moller-Maersk chief executive Soren Skou said it was looking at opportunities in landside logistics and running companies’ supply chains or warehouses.
Two weeks after his comments, Maersk Line revealed it had acquired US customs brokerage and logistics player Vandegrift.
