Norway's Eidesvik Offshore has brought a platform supply vessel (PSV) back into the North Sea spot market after nearly three years in layup.
The 3,500-dwt Viking Athene (built 2006) has been fixed for a firm six months by Aker BP for supply and standby duties, broker Westshore reported.
It has been laid up for two years and eight months, having been stacked in Bomlo, Norway, in September 2016.
The move is a further sign of a stronger PSV market in the region, with more and more vessels re-entering the sector for new contracts.
Earlier this month, a trio of PSVs rejoined the buoyant North Sea spot market after a combined 11 years - 4,178 days - in layup.
Island Offshore's 3,800-dwt Island Dragon (built 2014) was reactivated after being stacked for 1,592 days since December 2014 in Bergen.
The ship had been laid up longer than any of the other 96 PSVs and anchor-handlers brought back from layup in the last three or four years in the region.
A total of 34 PSVs remain laid up in North Sea ports, with 36 anchor-handlers and three MSVs also stacked.
The focus is likely to be on more modern units, with reactivation costs put at between $1.5m and $2m per ship.
