French shipowner Bourbon is plotting an order for 40 crew transfer vessels (CTVs).
The restructured company is conducting sea trials of the first two in the Surfer-200X series off the coast of Normandy in France.
The pair will be operated by subsidiary Bourbon Mobility along the coast of Gabon for French oil major TotalEnergies within weeks.
"Bourbon Mobility will accelerate its fleet transformation within the next three years and plans to build 40 new units in total," the company said.
Bourbon has spent two years designing the CTVs, which are known as inter-field ships. They are 19 metres long and can carry 30 people at 30 knots.
The CTVs have been built at the Efinor-Allais French Shipyard in Cherbourg, which is already at work on three more.
The 40 new units will include more 19-metre-long inter-field ships, as well as bigger 26-metre and 38-metre versions, known as crewliners.
Keeping the average age down
The orders are part of Bourbon's commitment to maintain operating standards by keeping the average age of its fleet at eight years.
The design offers improved visual and physical access to all key equipment in the engine room, the company said.
The hull structure has also been reinforced for better durability and safety.
Francois Lesle, chief executive of Bourbon Mobility, said the vessels send a strong signal to clients that Bourbon will innovate and anticipate market trends.
In December last year, Bourbon exited court restructuring with €1.5bn ($1.83bn) less debt, but with plans to sell or scrap more than 100 ships.
The company is now owned by its French lenders after they took over the company in a debt to equity swap, leaving former principal Jacques de Chateauvieux with no stake in the outfit after years of losses in tough markets.
The target for the fleet at the end of 2021 is to own fewer than 350 vessels, compared with 458 now.
A Bourbon spokeswoman told TradeWinds at the time that roughly half the fleet is offshore support vessels and half crew boats.
"Concerning OSVs, we have in fact already sold several tens of vessels throughout 2020 and we plan to continue on the same pace in 2021," she said.
