Vroon Offshore Services has enlarged its global reach with a deal in Saudi Arabia for three anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels.

It said the Saudi National Center for Environmental Compliance (NCEC) has fixed the trio on a "multi-year" contract for oil pollution response work in the Red Sea.

The 5,150-hp VOS Athos and VOS Thalassa (both built 2012) and the 5,221-hp VOS Hestia (built 2009) recently started operations there. No financial terms have been disclosed.

"One of the world’s busiest sea routes, this absolutely pristine environment could suffer irreparable damage in the event of a major oil spill," Vroon said.

The NCEC and the Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture view increasing abilities to respond to any such incidents as a key mission, the company added.

"At Vroon Offshore Services, we are proud to be contributing to this exciting new green project together with our partners Lamor Corp and the Zamil Group," it said.

Last year, the Dutch group ventured into new territories with deals in Mozambique and Cambodia.

Two platform supply vessels were fixed to Eni on a long-term drilling project off Mozambique.

The 3,800-dwt VOS Princess and VOS Principle (both built 2016) are to support the 59,100-dwt drillship Saipem 12000 (built 2010) from the second half of December for about seven months, following a suspension in 2020.

In November, Vroon won its first offshore contract in Cambodia.

The 5,150-bhp AHTS VOS Atlas (built 2012) started work for an unnamed domestic company, supporting a drilling campaign using the PVD-3 jack-up rig at five locations.