Sign of the times as newbuild is sold before delivery

摘要

A combination of the low oil price (and the possibility that it will remain low for a couple of years) in addition to a vastly oversupplied market has taken its toll on owners in the North Sea, with term demand dropping significantly since last year. Barely a week seems to go by without some sort of negative headlines for the industry, whether that be the latest platform supply vessel (PSV) or anchor-handling tug/supply (AHTS) vessel being forced into layup or new record low day rates set on the spot market. Owners are facing huge competition for work in a highly oversupplied North Sea offshore support vessel (OSV) market, where minimising losses as opposed to vying for lucrative day rates is becoming a more common and realistic target.