Arne Blystad-backed shipowner OHT is bidding for nearly $2bn of offshore wind vessel contracts as it eyes a main board listing in Oslo and recruits more staff.
The company, which listed on Oslo's Merkur Market in September, said there is a growing number of projects being tendered for execution from late 2021 until the end of 2023.
These are dominated by the transport of jackets and monopiles from Asia to Europe and monopiles or transition pieces from Europe to the US.
In the US, permit delays continue to be a factor, although this is now expected to ease once the first project has come through the bottleneck and created a precedent, OHT said.
"Generally, there are few signs of Covid-19 affecting offshore wind renewable plans," the shipowner said.
Tenders piling up
So far this year, OHT has submitted six tenders for foundation work, covering 635 units.
And, since ordering up to four wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs) at China Merchants Industry Holdings in China this year, the company has entered seven tenders for 805 turbine installations.
OHT said the total value of this portfolio is approaching $1.7bn.
There are also tenders worth at least another $230m for other wind-farm work that OHT is competing for.
"Tendering processes are generally time consuming and lengthy, but the first awards should be expected from the first quarter of 2021," OHT said.
All of the contracts are for wind farms in Europe and the US between 2024 and 2028.
OHT said the current number of relevant WTIVs in the world's fleet stands at 16, with seven newbuildings likely to be delivered before 2024, which is a 44% growth.
"However, few of the 16 are relevant for the next-generation turbines seen on all future wind farms being tendered — and, even if converted, far from all are realistic candidates for the significant upgrades required," the company said.
"As a consequence, there is a general expectation that this situation may put pressure on day rates going forward."
Fleet in demand
In the foundations sector, the existing fleet numbers only seven vessels, many of which are old or designed for oil and gas activities and therefore costly to operate and less efficient, OHT added.
Five newbuildings are underway in yards, bringing the fleet to 12, of which three seem to be dedicated to Taiwan, the company believes.
OHT said this leaves limited suitable capacity for the large markets in Europe and the US.
The company is "well underway" setting up a WTIV team, with between six and eight people expected to be recruited.
OHT has already brought in Tony Millward to run the company's expanding wind turbine generator installation operations.
Millward will join the Norwegian shipping company on 1 January from DEME Offshore, the former A2Sea, which was bought by Belgium's DEME in 2017.
Main listing targeted
The company has also now initiated a dialogue with the Oslo Stock Exchange and the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway about a listing on the main board.
Net profit in the third quarter was $3.6m, up from a loss of $1.7m a year ago.
Revenue rose to $17.6m, against $15.7m in 2019.
OHT said there had been a solid operational performance, with 84% vessel utilisation so far in 2020.
The company has also replaced an expiring $30m revolving credit facility with a new three-year $50m revolver.
