Denmark’s Maersk Supply Service (MSS) sees its sale of two laid-up offshore support vessels (OSVs) into Asia as “right-sizing” the market.
The 13,872-bhp anchor-handling tug supply vessels Maersk Tackler and Maersk Trimmer (both built 2009) had been laid up in Fredericia, Denmark, since 2016.
Their sales were reported by TradeWinds in July, but MSS has now said the ships were handed over in June.
No buyer had been revealed, but MSS told TradeWinds the new owner is Vietnamese company Haduco.
“The vessels will be re-activated and painted before leaving Denmark for trading in Asia,” the seller added.
MSS now has 36 vessels in its fleet, with one wind installation vessel on order.
“Maersk Supply Service regularly evaluates its fleet composition and the future deployment of our fleet,” chief operating officer Mark Handin told TradeWinds.
“As we look to prioritise capital allocation, we see many more attractive investment opportunities, which better deserve our focus.”
Handin said that as a result, the company concluded that the sale of the two assets was the best outcome.
“In so doing, we continue to take active steps towards right-sizing the supply side of the market, which the OSV industry needs for a sustainable recovery,” he added.
All-time high rates
Haduco is listed with 41 offshore vessels worth $169m by VesselsValue.
The valuation platform assessed the MSS pair as worth $19.2m combined in July.
Anchor-handler rates hit an all-time record of $233,000 per day in the North Sea in June.
Activity has increased and ships have been fixed away from the region for the summer on term deals.
