WEST AFRICA

摘要

The market for large AHTS in West Africa remains healthy, with vessels over 15,000 bhp enjoying increasing demand as projects in the region become more ambitious and move farther offshore. Indeed, the market for these larger vessels is only likely to tighten. further as Brazil's seemingly endless need for OSVs continues to lure both AHTS and PSVs away from other regions - including a recent fixture for two large AHTS vessels which have spent the last six months working in West Africa. Unfortunately, this has not yet translated into better day rates, with owners expecting earnings to stay low for the rest of 2011 despite rising demand. With plenty of tenders for upcoming work, rig owners and oil companies are very positive about the future. However, the worldwide problem of oversupply is still making the region a charterers' market.