Marcon brokers sale of OSV

Marcon International, Inc., Coupeville, Wash., reports the sale of the U.S. flag oilfield supply boat “Orion Pioneer” (ex-Orion Star, Acoustic Pioneer, September Morn) from WesternGeco Overseas Inc. to private buyers.

The vessel was originally built in 1981 by Halter Marine, Inc. as a standard design 180 ft x 40 ft x 14 ft depth supply vessel for Levy-Mellon Marine of Patterson, La., to use in the Gulf of Mexico market. She was later modified for specialized acoustic work for the U.S. Government Naval Sea Systems Command with conversion of port and starboard No. 2 tanks to 13 ft x 15 ft enclosed storage spaces and liquid mud and drybulk tanks converted to carry additional ballast and fuel. “Orion Pioneer” was originally classed by ABS, but later only carried an ABS loadline. Vessel currently has tankage for 79,000 gal fuel, 9,800 gal  fresh water, and 160,000 gal ballast water providing an endurance of 30 days. She is powered by twin EMD 12-567BC main engines developing a total of 2,500 BHP.

New buyers plan to register the vessel in Panama and operate her in the Caribbean. Marcon acted as sole broker for the transaction. This is the fifteenth vessel Marcon has sold for WesternGeco.

Marcon has concluded a total of seven charters and sales so far this year.  Several additional transactions are pending and expected to close within the next couple of weeks.  In 2011, Marcon booked 34 sales and one charter. Looking back over the past 31 years, the firm has averaged about 42 sales/charters per year. Since our first sale in 1983, Marcon has brokered a total of 1,258 vessels and barges sold or chartered.

May 14, 2012