VesselsValue Launches VV Offshore

UK-based vessel valuation provider VesselsValue has introduced a new division, VV Offshore, with the aim of providing instant valuations and geographical information system (GIS) database of the offshore structures to the industry. 

The introduction of the offshore division has been prompted by the market need for offshore vessel valuation in particular having in mind the recent market downturn. The company believes its regression-based valuation model would help the offshore sector as well as the banks to know the exact value of a particular offshore vessel, especially in light of the collapse of the oil price.

The company has assembled a team of experts to develop “the only instantly available global valuation service available to the offshore industry“. This is supported by mapping system that overlays oil and gas terminal spatial GIS data with automatic identification system (AIS) data. The infrastructure data includes oil and gas fields, platforms, wells, pipelines and terminals.

The offshore vessel database was created by a team led by Lead Offshore Data Researcher Emma Svensson, who spent twelve months prior to the launch of VV Offshore researching the offshore fleet.

According to Svensson, the difficult part of the job is to find and input each ship individually with its own set of specifications.

Precisely, every asset specification is validated by the team, using owner websites and through comparing to other readily available sources. This includes identifying the ship types and the particular individual specifications that are important for each type.

The next development stage was to value the offshore vessels on the database, by scoring the features of the vessels. The values are checked against known sales and independent broker valuations, and constantly updated.

According to Miles Cole, Project Manager of VV Offshore, the values being produced by VV Offshore have been tested against those produced by the traditional methods employed by shipbrokers, and are proving to be accurate.

The opening of the new division comes at the time when the company celebrates its fifth birthday since the original VesselsValue service for the shipping industry was launched in 2011. With offices in Great Britain and Singapore, VesselsValue also provides valuation of LNG, LPG, small tankers, tankers and bulkers.