Norway's Ocean Yield has offloaded a cable-laying and construction vessel that has cost it dearly in impairments in recent months.
The 156-loa offshore ship Connector (built 2012) had only been chartered sporadically this year, leading to a write-down of $34.6m in the third quarter.
The financial leasing company has now sold the vessel, with Jan De Nul confirming it is the new owner, although the price has not been confirmed.
Connector is a highly advanced ship that was operating on a long-term bareboat charter until February 2017.
In anticipation of a market recovery, Ocean Yield has since then traded the vessel in the spot market.
But tough conditions meant Connector posted losses, including one of $5.1m in the first three months of 2020.
Industrial set-up needed
"Considering the current weak outlook for the oil service segment and that an industrial set-up is required to operate the vessel efficiently in the cable-lay market, Ocean Yield believes it is in the best interest of the company to dispose of the vessel as this will reduce the portfolio risk and improve net profit and cash flow," the shipowner said.
Ocean Yield said in its third quarter report that the ship was in the process of being fixed on a new short-term contract from early December until mid-February 2021, but the owner added that the market remained challenging, with rates continuing at low levels.
In March, Connector had started a 175-day time charter with Ocean Installer for installation work in China.
The sale will strengthen dividend capacity, Kjell Inge Rokke-controlled Ocean Yield added.
The deal is cash-flow neutral after settlement of debt related to the vessel, but a non-cash loss of $70m will be booked in the fourth quarter.
One unchartered vessel
Ocean Yield is now left with one ship that is not chartered, the 214,266-cbm Dhirubhai-1 (built 1979), which has been idle since Reliance released it in India in 2018.
A sale is also being explored for this unit.
Jan De Nul said the Connector acquisition marks a further investment in the offshore installation capacities of the Luxembourg-based maritime contractor.
The deal is part of a running expansion programme following the order in 2019 of the jack-up installation vessel Voltaire and floating crane installation ship Les Alizes.
"The Connector has a very good reputation in the sector and is known as one of the world’s top tier subsea installation and construction vessels," said Philippe Hutse, director of the offshore division at Jan De Nul.
