Otto Marine Sells AHTS for $100m

Otto Marine of Singapore has sold an AHTS to an unrelated buyer for $100m.

Otto is a leading offshore chartering group, which owns and operates more than 60 offshore support vessels globally, and is also engaged in specialized shipbuilding, repair and conversion of OSVs.

DNV classed and Norwegian-designed, the VS491 21,000bhp AHTS is a hybrid propulsion diesel electric driven vessel with DP2 technology. It measures 91.5m in length and 22.5m wide and has a bollard pull of 240 to 260 tons. The vessel can also operate and handle large rigs in the ultra-deepwater region including the harshest environments of the North Sea region.

This AHTS is the fourth and final of the VS491 series the group has built in this batch. It is currently under construction at Otto Marine’s shipyard in Batam, Indonesia, and is expected to be completed in 2Q 2015.

GO Offshore, a subsidiary of the group, will charter the vessel for 8 years upon the completion of the vessel. 

Michael See, Group Executive Director said: “While the OSV market turned increasingly competitive given the recent regional developments and the instability of oil prices, the sale of the AHTS vessel and recent delivery of a subsea IMR vessel, once again, demonstrated our shipyard capability in shipbuilding and conversion of larger and complex OSVs, as well as our reputation among customers. 

“The group has continued to fortify our position as a leading OSV charterer in Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, Africa and expanding, while our shipyard continues to remain as an integral part of its main offshore chartering business. The shipyard has been constantly securing repairs and fabrication jobs and generated a stable income stream, and thus strengthening the overall financial position of the group.”

In addition to the sale and leaseback of the AHTS and the recently delivered subsea and inspection, maintenance and repair vessel currently deployed in Australia, the group will be delivering four AHTS vessels to a renowned unrelated third party Indonesia customer in the next two months.

The group’s net order book stood at approximately $500m as at 30 September 2014.