Rubicon Offshore International has tasked brokers with finding a buyer for one of three floating production, storage and offloading vessels in its fleet.
TradeWinds is told that L&R Midland and Braemar ACM Shipbroking have been given joint exclusive rights to sell the Singapore-based operator's 110,000-dwt Front Puffin (built 1990) on an "as is, where is" basis.
The Spanish-built vessel is currently in Nigerian waters, operating in Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Co’s deepwater Aje field. It will be available around the first half of July this year.
FPSOs are rare sales candidates and, being niche-market assets, have a limited spectrum of potential FPSO operators as buyers.
Alternative modes
However, brokers say the pool of prospective buyers is not restricted to other FPSO operators, as the ships can still be used in the offshore sector as floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessels, or just as floating storage units.
Putting a market value on the Front Puffin is difficult as comparable sales transactions are few and far between. The conversion date, along with the equipment and modules found onboard individual FPSOs also vary considerably, which would impact their estimated worth.
Previously a shuttle tanker, the Front Puffin was acquired by Frontline-affiliated Sea Production Ltd in 2006. It was converted into an FPSO at Keppel Shipyard in 2007, while at the same time Sea Production was spun off from Frontline, and eventually acquired by Rubicon.
The Front Puffin underwent a substantial upgrading and life-extension refit between 2014 and 2016.
