UK-based owner Altera Infrastructure is already considering what the next generation of shuttle tankers will look like.
But the company is confronted with a familiar problem: figuring out what type of fuel they should use.
The former Teekay Offshore took delivery last year of four pioneering 130,000-dwt, LNG-fuelled E-Shuttle Tankers.
The Samsung Heavy Industries-built ships are supplied with fuel by Shell for North Sea operations.
Two other newbuildings are due from the South Korean yard this year and in 2022. But what then?
Chief executive Ingvild Saether told analysts on a conference call the company has no immediate newbuilding plans.
She added: "I think the North Sea market is well supplied for the next couple of years. Where we see there will be a lot of growth is in Brazil."
Saether believes this will come a bit further down the road, but not in the too distant future.
Difficult choices
"And I think one of the questions and dilemmas there is what type of vessels do you build?" Saether said.
"We have made the move to LNG vessels in the North Sea. And that is not yet available in Brazil — LNG as a fuel. But when will it come, and when is the right time to do that shift?"
Saether said the worst thing the company could do is sit with old technology that is overcome by the focus on more sustainable solutions.
"So that's the dilemma we have in the same way as most other stakeholders in the world are facing," she added.
Chief financial officer Jan Rune Steinsland added that looking at the longer term, several shuttle tankers are reaching 20 years of age and will exit service.
"And there will be a need for fleet renewal across the markets," he said.
Steinsland stressed that Altera wants to maintain market share and that means a likely need for more than 10 shuttle tanker newbuildings over the next eight to 10 years or so.
New strategy?
The new E-Shuttle Tankers reduce CO2 emissions by about 50%, making them the most environmentally friendly shuttle tankers ever built, the company has claimed.
And these ships are helping it shape its future strategy.
New York-listed Altera said earlier this month that it had brought in financial advisors to examine how it can grow following bigger losses in the fourth quarter.
The strategic review will include potential shuttle tanker or floating production unit sales to "optimise" its portfolio.
Other proposals include seeking joint venture partners, or capital raises.
"We have delivered very stable results in a very unstable year for the world, in general," Saether said.
"And we believe that our strong and resilient earnings are well-suited to infrastructure investors and we see that there is a lot of appetite for that in the market right now," she added.
Saether believes the company's 10-year forecasts for the shuttle tanker segment suggest "quite significant growth".
Then there are "concrete" new projects Altera is working on in the floating production vessel sector that will need growth capital.
"So, these are some of the considerations that have encouraged us to explore some of these strategic initiatives for the company," Saether added.
