Borealis Maritime’s Aurora Offshore venture has sealed a deal to operate two platform supply vessels for Greek tycoon Evangelos Marinakis.
The initial full management contracts could lead to more work with the shipowner’s newly formed Capital Offshore Ship Management Corp in Piraeus, the manager believes.
The ships are the renamed large 5,200-dwt pair Ace Supplier and Ace Viking (both built 2007).
“These two sister vessels are well known to the market due to their high specification and capacities and are a welcome addition to our managed fleet,” Aurora said.
They are the former Standard Supplier and Standard Viking, acquired last year by Marinakis from Norwegian owner Standard Supply.
Both vessels have just completed term contracts with BP and Shell and are now available in the North Sea Spot market, the manager said.
“We very much look forward to working closely with these two fantastic vessels as well as strengthening our relationship with Capital Offshore going forward,” Aurora added.
Aurora has an owned and managed fleet of 18 ships, aside from the new additions.
In June, TradeWinds reported that Marinakis had upped his bet on healthier offshore shipping markets with a landmark order in China.
Up to eight ships coming
Capital Offshore ordered four firm PSVs at Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding, with four options attached.
The deadweight tonnage of the diesel-electric ships is not known, nor have delivery dates been disclosed, but handover could potentially begin from 2026.
Brokers have estimated a new PSV costs between $40m and $50m, with the Marinakis deal possibly towards the lower end of that range due to the size of the order.
TradeWinds revealed that Capital Offshore was set up in December to capitalise on the hot offshore support vessel sector following acquisitions worth $106m.
The company had quietly built up a fleet of six PSVs from Norway’s Standard Supply.
In January, Capital Offshore pulled out of a deal to buy a seventh Standard Supply ship, the 5,200-dwt Standard Supplier (built 2007), because it was not delivered according to the agreement.
The sale was expected to be completed by mid-January but had been delayed by repairs of the azimuth thruster, Standard Supply said.
