Houston-based OSV owner Seacor Marine Holdings has announced it has agreed to acquire three platform supply vessels (PSVs) from an affiliate of Chinese state-owned shipping giant COSCO in a deal worth approximately US$46M.
Shipbuilder COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Zhoushan) is expected to deliver the first of the three vessels on 30 September this year, the second on 30 January 2020 and the third on 30 April 2020.
The three vessels, which will be named Seacor Alps, Seacor Andes and Seacor Atlas, will all be of the Rolls-Royce UT771CDL design, with a dwt of 3,800 tonnes, a dynamic positioning class of DP2 and a firefighting class of 1. They are all capable of undergoing subsequent retrofits for battery hybrid power solutions. All three vessels will be Marshall Islands-registered.
Seacor Marine’s chief executive John Gellert said “We are honored to build upon our relationship with the COSCO Shipping Group, which began last year with our SEACOSCO joint venture.
“That initiative’s first two vessels are already operational in the North Sea and in Saudi Arabia.
“Those vessels have performed well since delivery in early 2018, and we look forward to welcoming these newly acquired vessels into our fleet over the next year.
30% of the aggregate consideration for the vessels will be paid in cash, with the remaining 70% to be paid under a four-year deferred payment agreement. Half of the cash payment will be funded in Q1 2019, with the balance per vessel to be paid upon physical delivery of the relevant PSV.
“This is truly an exciting time for Seacor Marine and its stakeholders as we continue to modernise our fleet through prudently structured transactions.
“In our core areas of US-flagged lift boats, aluminum hull fast support vessels, and now, foreign-flagged, mid-size deepwater platform supply vessels, we will have one of the most modern and commercially viable fleets in the industry for many years to come."
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