Sentinel Marine nets $21 million in new contracts

Offshore support vessel provider Sentinel Marine has secured new contracts and extended existing contracts worth a total of £17 million ($21 million).

Sentinel said on Wednesday that these awards were all won in the first months of 2017 and included a new contract with Nexen Petroleum U.K. for the provision of rescue and recovery services for the Golden Eagle and Buzzard fields over a four-year period.

This work will be carried out by the multi-role emergency response and rescue vessel (ERRV) Fastnet Sentinel. The contract also includes options to extend.

Fastnet Sentinel is one of five new ERRV vessels built for Sentinel Marine since 2015. It is a part of the modern generation of ERRVs, which unlike previous ships were not converted from fishing vessels and older supply vessels to operate as ERRVs.

Sentinel added it is estimated that over 30 percent of all of the vessels operating in the sector are at least 30 years old.

Rory Deans, chief executive of Sentinel Marine, said: “There are clear advantages for operators contracting with a young fleet.

“A purpose-built multi-role vessel like Fastnet Sentinel is more technically advanced and is more fuel efficient than an aging asset which is far more expensive to operate. For example, an older vessel may burn three to four tonnes of fuel a day compared to one tonne for a new ship.”

He added: “We have four further vessels to be delivered through 2017 and 2018 representing a total investment of more than £110 million ($136 million).”