Oslo-listed Solstad Offshore has sold seven older and non-core ships for scrap as it pursues its ideal fleet size.
The vessels comprise five anchor-handling tug supply units and two platform supply vessels.
Solstad said the sales include its oldest ship, the 18,600-bhp AHTS Normand Neptun (built 1996).
The other AHTS vessels to go are the 15,000-bhp Sea Tiger (built 1998), 18,600-bhp Normand Atlantic (built 1997), 16,821-bhp Normand Borg (built 2000), and 27,401-bhp Far Sovereign (built 1999).
The PSVs are the 4,600-dwt Far Strider (built 1999) and the 3,300-dwt Sea Pollock (built 2008).
The vessels have been laid up for a number of years and are defined by Solstad as non-strategic and older ships "considered to be irrelevant for present and future markets".
The septet is headed for green recycling in Norway at Green Yard Group's Green Yard Ferda and Green Yard Kleven shipyards.
Steel content conundrum
Offshore vessel scrapping has been a relative rarity despite dire rates, as the steel content is not high in the ships.
"We are pleased that we finally can start green recycling of a major number of our oldest vessels. These all have been in lay-up over a considerable time," Solstad's chief sustainability officer Tor Inge Dale said.
"This will allow us to increase focus on upgrades and emission reductions from our core fleet of modern offshore vessels going forward," he added.
VesselsValue assesses the seven ships as worth more than $18m for further trading, but only around $12m for demolition.
The sales will have a negligible accounting effect, Solstad said.
"We at Green Yard are proud and grateful for this agreement with Solstad Offshore. The agreement has a historical scope when it comes to the environmentally friendly recycling of ships in Norway, and it proves that our circular economy business model is really bearing fruit," said Green Yard Group chief executive Hans Jorgen Fedog.
Solstad has been trying to cut its fleet to 90 ships since agreeing a $2bn long-term debt restructuring last year.
The offshore vessel owner has now sold 21 of 37 vessels classified as non-strategic.
