Singapore's BW Offshore is selling an old floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to free cash.
The Oslo-listed company said the 97,000-dwt BW Joko Tole (built 1988) is being acquired by Indonesian buyers Bahari Inti Tanker and Cahaya Haluan Pasifik.
They are working in a consortium with publicly listed shipowner Buana Lintas Lautan (BULL).
The group will operate the FPSO under the existing lease contract with Kangean Energy Indonesia.
“The transaction is part of BW Offshore's strategy to transition to floating energy infrastructure investments,” the seller said.
The sale frees more than $50m of liquidity, comprising net sale proceeds of $42.5m and the release of $9m in working capital.
The FPSO has no debt attached, but the company expects to book a paper loss of $23m from the transaction, and a tax expense of $12m from the write-down of a deferred tax asset.
Change of strategy
“The transaction follows our strategy of optimising value from the non-core FPSO fleet, which includes divesting assets with marginal contracts close to end of the firm period, while progressing our transition to floating energy infrastructure investments,” said BW Offshore chief executive Marco Beenen.
“We are pleased that the BW Joko Tole has found a new owner with a strong local connection which will continue to operate the unit in Indonesia,” he added.
BW Offshore will provide transition services for a period of up to four months after closing to ensure the safe and uninterrupted transfer of operations.
The BW Joko Tole is a gas-producing FPSO operating on the TSB field offshore Indonesia.
UK shipbroker Clarksons lists the owner as controlling 12 other FPSOs, built between 1974 and 2017.
Earlier this month, BULL reportedly sold the 59,600-dwt FPSO Brotojoyo (built 1980) for scrap in Bangladesh.
