Hartmann Offshore sells entire anchor handling fleet

Offshore vessel owner Hartmann Offshore has sold its entire fleet of anchor handling tug and supply (AHTS) vessels to Breakwater Capital.

The vessel owning company is the offshore activities department within the Germany-based Hartmann Group.

The company said last week that it agreed recapitalization of an 11-strong AHTS fleet through a partnership and long-term investment from Breakwater Capital and Hayfin Capital Management. Hartmann added the deal with the financing banks was made on October 12.

The deal will, according to VesselsValue, see the ownership of the vessels go to Breakwater. On the other hand, full ship management of the fleet remains with the former owners Hartmann Group. Hartmann Offshore will continue the technical-nautical operations.

Andre Groeneveld, managing director of UOS, said: “We’re delighted to have agreed this investment which secures a clean balance sheet and the long-term capital required to provide stability and the potential for growth in the future. With strong assets, long-term partners and experienced management, we feel well-positioned to deliver a reliable, competitive and technically advanced service to the market.”

The vessels in question are UOS Challenger, UOS Columbia, UOS Discovery, UOS Endeavour, UOS Explorer, UOS Enterprise, UOS Freedom, UOS Liberty, UOS Navigator, UOS Pathfinder, and UOS Voyager which will all continue operating under its current names. The only change will be the prefix which will now be GH instead of UOS.

According to Hartmann, the delivery of the 11 vessels is scheduled to be completed by the end of November. The financial terms of the transaction were left undisclosed.

All vessels are of the identical AHTS Moss 424h design built between 2009 and 2010. The UOS Columbia and UOS Challenger are the only two eight-year-olds while the remaining nine vessels are seven years old. The 76.50-meter long and 17.50-meter wide vessels were built by Fincantieri in Italy and have a deadweight of 3,100 tonnes.

Offshore Energy Today Staff