Middle East shipowner Polarcus has stacked a seismic survey ship redelivered by Russian charterer Sovcomflot (SCF Group).
The 4,400-dwt Ivan Gubkin (built 2012) has reverted to its previous name of Polarcus Amani after being returned to the company on 25 September.
Sovcomflot had no immediate need for the ship after it extended the charter on Polarcus' 2,500-dwt sister vessel Vyacheslav Tikhonov (built 2011) for another three years this month.
The Polarcus Amani had been working for the Russian company since 2017.
Polarcus said the vessel will "remain stacked in Lyngdal, Norway, until market conditions support reactivation".
"Sovcomflot continues to evaluate seismic acquisition opportunities for the vessel in 2021," the company said.
Polarcus is assessing the possibility of the Polarcus Amani working as a source vessel or streamer ship in the international market.
The Russian company scored a 50% discount on the charter rate after extending the Vyacheslav Tikhonov deal in weak oil and gas markets.
Polarcus said its Russian counterparty has exercised firm options to keep the unit on a bareboat charter basis until 2023.
Work until the end of October
In June, Sovcomflot had said it was revoking its notice of redelivery to retain the Vyacheslav Tikhonov until the third quarter.
The vessel is currently completing a project for the Russian group, with hire payable in full until demobilisation around the end of October.
After that date, Polarcus had expected to be handed back the ship.
Polarcus, which owns seven vessels, said in June that it was accelerating its pandemic cost-cutting plans with big job reductions lined up.
The Oslo-listed shipowner said it would be axing 20% of workers, mainly through redundancies, as it felt the twin effects of the oil price fall and coronavirus disruption.
