Floatel vessel finds work with Norwegian oil & gas giant

Norwegian offshore accommodation provider Floatel International has won a new contract and secured an optional one for a semi-submersible support vessel, which will be used as a mobile accommodation unit off the coast of Norway, with the country’s state-owned energy giant, Equinor.

Floatel’s new contract with Equinor is for the deployment of the Floatel Superior mobile accommodation facility, which will provide accommodation and support services at the Åsgard B platform located in the Norwegian Sea on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

With a firm duration of six months, the vessel is due to kick off this assignment in March/April 2025. However, the contract comes with an extension option. In addition to the Åsgard contract award, the firm also got a hold of an optional contract with Equinor.

This optional deal is for the provision of accommodation and support services at the Oseberg Field Centre in the Norwegian North Sea. If Equinor declares the option, the hire period for Floatel Superior will be extended by an additional five to eight months.

As a result, the vessel’s total assignment duration will be eleven to fourteen months, including the Åsgard project. The optional period at Oseberg is to be declared by Equinor before November 1, 2024. This subsequent engagement at Oseberg is due to begin immediately following the completion of the project at Åsgard in early 4Q 2025.

The 2010-built Floatel Superior is a dynamically positioned (DP-3) semi-submersible accommodation and construction support vessel constructed at the Keppel FELS yard in Singapore. This vessel, which can accommodate 440 people, received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) in 2011.

Floatel has other units working off Norway. Recently, the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (Havtil) gave Aker BP consent to use Floatel Endurance on the Skarv field in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea.