Maersk Supply Service further trims offshore vessel fleet

Maersk Supply Service has sold another two platform supply vessels (PSVs), the Maersk Feeder and Maersk Fighter, as a continuation of the company’s plan to shed 20 vessels over the next year and a half.

To remind, Offshore Energy Today reported back in August on Maersk Supply Service’s plan to cut its fleet of vessels and cut more than 400 jobs in the process.

The company stated that the divestment plan is a response to vessels in lay-up, limited trading opportunities and the global over-supply of offshore supply vessels in the industry.

Maersk also said on Friday that the two PSVs were officially delivered to their new owners on October 21 and October 27, 2016.

The first four vessels Maersk decided to sell were bought by Karadeniz Holding from Turkey. In addition to being modified and removed from the Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) segment, the vessels were renamed Koray Bey (Maersk Finder), Faruk Bey (Maersk Puncher), Arda Bey (Maersk Provider), and Nezih Bey (Maersk Forwarder).

Maersk said that both the Maersk Feeder and Maersk Fighter will also be modified by their new owners and will leave the OSV segment like the previous vessels. Also, according to AIS data, the Maersk Fighter is currently at the Yalova port in Istanbul, Turkey.

The sale of the Maersk Feeder and Maersk Fighter, which joined the Maersk Supply Service fleet in the early ’90s, brings the total number of sold vessels up to six and the Maersk Supply Service fleet down to 51 vessels.