Rem Offshore boss Fredrik Remoy has revealed his company did not waste any time snapping up K Line Offshore’s platform supply vessel fleet when it went on the market.

The Norwegian offshore offshoot of Japanese giant K Line is being wound up after years of dire markets.

The company’s four PSVs and two anchor-handling tug supply ships were sold as part of this process, but buyers were not named.

Remoy Offshore, however, confirmed to TradeWinds it had acquired the PSVs for an undisclosed price.

Chief executive Fredrik Remoy said the very large ships are “highly sophisticated and come with a long-standing reputation in the market as vessels of superior quality”.

"We know this from competing against them in the market for many years and when they came available from K Line we didn’t hesitate," he added.

Remoy said the private company he controls with his father Age Remoy will continue to use the quartet in the oil and gas market for the foreseeable future.

'Unmatched' ships

"The vessels are very versatile. They have the potential for conversion to zero-emission solutions and they operate just as well in the UK as on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In addition, they are unmatched for transportation of large structures and pipe-haul," the CEO added.

VesselsValue assessed K Line’s fleet of two AHTS ships built in 2011 and four PSVs as worth $98m.

The four PSVs are the 5,200-dwt KL Brofjord, KL Brisfjord, KL Barentsfjord (all built 2011) and KL Brevikfjord (built 2010).

Borealis Maritime of the UK has acquired the AHTS units.

VesselsValue's head of offshore, Robert Day, puts the acquisition price for the PSVs at about $11m each, or $44m, compared with the valuation platform's value assessment of $42.85m combined.

"Interestingly, the market for large modern PSVs is getting tighter and tighter, especially for Norwegian-built tonnage," he told TradeWinds.

"So after this transaction the number of 'serious' sales candidates has decreased even further," he said.

Day believes Chinese PSV yard resales remain an alternative option, but for any interested party these require an upfront expense of around $18m.

"However, even with this hefty price tag they are seeing increased interest, driven by the limited secondhand sales candidates," he added.

A 'power play'

Robert Day is head of offshore at VesselsValue. Photo: VesselsValue

Day sees Rem's deal as a "real power play".

"Not only do they add four highly versatile assets to their fleet (and slim down the number of sales candidates for their competitors), they also managed to secure the units at a huge discount compared to the vessels' original contract [price], around $60m," he said.

"A $50m decrease over 10/11 years is fantastic from a buyer’s perspective, but quite a tough pill to swallow on the seller’s side," Day added.

Several large PSVs have changed hands in recent months, but they have been bought for use outside the oil and gas sector.

The sale prices are not always reflective of where offshore market values are, and what offshore owners are willing to pay.

"The K Line sales are great data points because they were purchased by a pure offshore company to remain in the offshore sector, and they were a straight sale, ie willing buyer and willing seller," Day explained.

He is forecasting an increase in values for these types of vessels, as demand rises from charterers.