Oslo financier and shipowner Ness, Risan & Partners has ventured into a very promising offshore support vessel market.
The NRP Project Finance division said it was involved in a transaction to acquire the 3,200-dwt platform supply vessel Atlantic Condor (built 2011) from Atlantic Towing in Canada.
NRP managing partner Ragnvald Risan told TradeWinds this is a new project carried out with Norway’s Vega Maritime Offshore, owned by Kenneth Fjeld, as well as other unnamed investors.
This appears to mark a return to offshore for Fjeld, who in recent years has been focusing on bulkers after founding Vega Bulk Carriers in 2020.
At the time the bulker arm was being set up, Fjeld told TradeWinds the offshore side of things was “on hold”.
The PSV has been renamed the Vega Juniz.
VesselsValue assesses the ship as worth $13m, up from $9m a year ago.
No price has been reported for the deal.
The Vega Juniz has a dry-docking due in February 2024.
Fjeld did not respond to TradeWinds’ request for further information.
Vega Offshore sold its last OSV in 2021, according to VesselsValue. The group has five bulkers.
Good collaboration
Risan said: “We would like to thank the investors and project sponsors for their trust in NRP Project Finance and for the good collaboration.”
OSVs are in short supply due to a complete lack of newbuildings and the sale of vessels out of the sector during the recent slump.
NRP is listed with four ships under its sole ownership: three bulkers and a clean tanker.
Three handysize bulkers and an LR1 tanker are controlled through joint ventures, and a handysize boxship and handysize bulker are due for delivery from Chinese yards this year.
In June, NRP Project Finance wrapped up the sales of two older ships for healthy returns.
Its ownership vehicle Kuo DIS offloaded the 1,471-teu feeder container ship Kuo Lung (built 1998), which was acquired in 2012 together with four sisters.
The sale of the Kuo Lung concluded the project, having generated an internal return of 14%, NRP said.
The 16,600-dwt heavylift vessel Ocean Globe (built 2010) was also disposed of.
