Siem Offshore gets two-year charter for subsea construction vessel

Norwegian offshore and subsea shipping company Siem Offshore has entered into a two-year bareboat charter agreement for one of its vessel with Swire Seabed.

According to Siem Offshore’s Oslo Stock Exchange filing on Monday, the charter agreement has been made with “an international subsea contractor” for the offshore subsea construction vessel (SCV) Siem Stingray. The contract is for a firm period of two years with options.

The shipping company added in the short statement that the vessel would start operations during the first quarter of 2018. However, the company did not reveal financial details of the deal nor the name of the client.

In a separate press statement issued on Monday, Swire Seabed, a Norwegian subsea operations specialist, revealed it had chartered the Siem Stingray for up to three years. The vessel will be re-named Seabed Stingray.

Swire said that it would operate the vessel in the IMR, Construction Support and Renewable sectors, with a particular focus on North European and West African markets.

“This bareboat charter increases the scale and flexibility of Swire Seabed’s fleet, and expresses our confidence in the quality of our service portfolio and the resilience of our clients in the subsea industry,” says Swire Seabed CEO, Arvid Pettersen.

The 2014-built Siem Stingray is of an STX OSCV 03 vessel design, capable of operating in depths of up to 3,000 meters. The vessel previously worked for the UK-based subsea engineering, construction and services company, Subsea 7, under a three-year deal which started in 2014. The deal with Subsea 7 included two yearly options.

The vessel was designed for subsea operation duties such as construction and installation work, inspection and maintenance. It is of clean design and is able to keep a high transit speed. It is 120.90 meters in length with a deck space of 1350 m² and is equipped with a 250 tonne offshore crane. The vessel is classed according to SPS 2008 and Clean Design.

According to the latest AIS data, the Siem Stingray is heading to the Eemshaven port in the Netherlands.

Offshore Energy Today Staff