FEBRUARY 5, 2016— Damen Shipyards Group yesterday handed over the DP2 cable installation vessel Maersk Connector to Maersk Supply Service. Built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania, Maersk Connector is the second
That’s heartening news for Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) operators such as Tidewater, Edison Chouest, Bourbon, Hornbeck Offshore, Seabulk and Maersk, which are dealing with the current challenging offshore oil and gas market. In a presentation at the recent Johnson Rice 2015 Energy Conference, Tidewater reported it had 38 vessels stacked as of the end of June and planned to scrap 11 older vessels.
In its monthly report for September, Baker Hughes reported that there were 29 drilling rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico, down from 59 a year ago.
Mordor Intelligence’s report, the “Global Offshore Support Vessel Market,” focuses on the market sectors by vessel type, including Anchor Handling Tug/Anchor Handling Towing Supply Vessels (AHT/AHTSs), Multi-Purpose/Multi-Role Supply Vessels (MPSV), Platform Supply Vessels, Construction Support Vessel (CSV), Specialty Vessels and others. It also breaks down activity by region: North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific (APAC), South America and Middle-East & Africa (MEA). The report analyzes and projects the market share of each region for the next 5 years.
Most promising regions for OSV market are the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, West Africa, the North Sea, South East Asia, the Middle East and Asia. Mordor Intelligence estimates that major part of the demand will be for AHTS, PSVs, and seismic research vessels.
As oil and gas explorations move towards deeper waters, explains Mordor Intelligence, multi-functional offshore support vessels are now called upon to perform different tasks, and have created various niches or categories within the market. Present day offshore support vessels are equipped with increased cargo capacity, panoramic navigation bridge visibility, large accommodation spaces, enhanced crew amenities and state-of-the-art propulsion and automation systems.
According to Mordor Intelligence, AHTS vessels comprise a 56% of the market share, followed by Platform Support Vessels. Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) Vessels are generally equipped with large accommodation spaces, heavy lift cranes, helidecks and streamlined bow forms for operation in harsh environments. Vessels specialized for multi-tasking carry out maintenance and repair operations on platform facilities, as well as subsea pipelines and equipment.
Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL) issued a statement on November 7 confirming that it is in “preliminary discussions with CMA CGM SA and A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S with respect to a potential acquisition of NOL.”
Speculation that NOL, whose principle operating entity is APL, has been seeking a suitor has been rising since it announced a third quarter loss of $96 million, compared to a net loss of $23 million in third quarter 2014.
“NOL has a duty to assess all options to maximize shareholder value and improve its competitiveness,” said the November 7 statement. “From time to time, NOL enters into discussions on possible combinations involving NOL, while remaining focused on returning its core liner business to sustainable growth and profitability.”
It promised that “NOL will make an appropriate announcement in the event that there are any material developments” and advised shareholders investors to “exercise caution when dealing in shares in and other securities of NOL.”
The Maersk Group delivered a profit of $778 million (compared with $1.5 billion in the third quarter of last year) negatively impacted by the lower oil price and lower average container freight rates, down 51% and 19% respectively compared to the same period last year. The return on invested capital (ROIC) was 7.6% (12.7%).
The underlying profit was $662 million ($1.3 billion) with lower profits in Maersk Line, Maersk Oil and APM Terminals and improved result for Maersk Drilling, while APM Shipping Services was on par with Q3 last year.
Group CEO Nils S. Andersen said the decline of nearly 50 percent in underlying profit compared to last year was primarily due to container freight rates deteriorating to a historically low level, especially in the later part of Q3, and profits in Maersk Oil being impacted by the lower oil price.
“The expected underlying result of around $3.4 billion for 2015 reflects good performance in very challenging oil and container shipping markets, where the continuous actions taken in all our business units to reduce the cost base will enable us to maintain our ability to pursue the opportunities arising in our industries,” says Mr. Andersen.
The adjustment reflects the market challenges facing Maersk Line, the world’s largest containership operator. The Group is maintaining its result guidance for 2015 for all its other businesses.
The previous expectation, announced in group’s second quarter report, had looked for an underlying result contribution from Maersk Line above $ 2.2 billion. The Group now expects an underlying result from Maersk Line of around $1.6 billion.
The Group’s sensitivity guidance for the last six months of 2015 states that a general decline in the freight rate of $100 per FFE (Forty Foot Equivalent) will impact Maersk Line’s result negatively by around $ 0.5 billion, and that a volume reduction of 100,000 FFE will have a negative impact of around $ 0.1 billion.
“Maersk Line has over the years taken steps to ensure a cost effective and resilient operation, but the current deterioration in the container shipping market is impacting also our business,” says Group CEO Nils S. Andersen..
In the third quarter Maersk Line achieved an average freight rate of $2,163/FFE down from $2,679/FFE in the equivalent 2014 quarter) and carried 2,427,000 FFE (2,401,000 FFE in Q3 2014. These results were lower than expected.
As a result of the market circumstances, says the Group, “initiatives have been taken to adjust Maersk Line’s network accordingly.”
The ships are a variety in class, size, age, and engine type and, by putting them under third party management, Maersk Line aims to create efficiency gains for the whole fleet by learning from industry best practice.
With 20 Triple-E vessels delivered and in regular service, and several large orders placed for new vessels to be delivered in the coming years, Maersk Line’s fleet is becoming larger and increasingly modern and efficient. At the same time, Maersk Line aims to continuously improve how ships are managed.
“We believe we are among the best ship managers and that our crews are among the best. But we want to verify and challenge this belief. We have therefore decided to contract thirdparty ship managers to take on the full ship management of 12 of our vessels for a period of five years,” says Maersk Line’s Head of Technical Operations, Ole Graa Jakobsen.
Ship management covers all technical aspects of running a vessel, including crewing, safety performance, environmental performance, technical operations, and energy efficiency.
Maersk Line has selected E.R. Schiffahrt and Bernhard Schulte based on criteria such as transparency, key performance indicators, and governance model.The vessels will be transferred to the two suppliers by the end of 2015.
Maersk Line will reassign the crew members currently serving on the 12 vessels.
E.R. Schiffahrt says the three sub-Panamax and three post-Panamax containerships that it will manage are between 2,500 TEU and 11,000 TEU. The contract with E,R. Schiffahrt includes their crewing and technical operation, as well as measures relating to security, environmental protection and energy efficiency.
“‘This management mandate from Maersk Line confirms to us that we are on the right path,” says Isabelle Rickmers, E.R. Schiffahrt management board member and head of new business. “At the same time, it inspires us to demonstrate our performance on a daily basis and to continue to optimize it. We see our customers as our partners. Their requirements and needs are our main focus. With Maersk Line, we now have a strong customer at our side and look forward to a successful partnership.”
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) will manage six vessels ranging in size from 2,500 to 11,000 TEU from its Ship Management Center in Hamburg, Germany, and will be responsible for all aspects of management including crewing, technical operations, safety performance, environmental performance and energy efficiency.
“We are proud to have been awarded this contract by Maersk in line with their aim to continuously improve management of their fleet,” said CEO Captain Norbert Aschmann. “This is a significant vote of confidence in BSM and reflects our commitment to safety, operational efficiency and transparency and emphasis on the achievement of key performance indicators agreed with our business partners.”
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 — Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine reports that subsidiary SMOE Pte Ltd has secured an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract worth over $1 billion (including long lead items) from Maersk
JULY 8, 2015 — Maersk Line has signed a $1.1 billion newbuilding contract with South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries covering construction of nine 353 m, 14,000 TEU containerships. The agreement includes
JULY 7, 2015 — Esbjerg, Denmarked, headquartered offshore safety and support specialist Esvagt is getting new owners. Two international infrastructure investors, 3i Infrastructure plc and AMP Capital, are acquiring the company for
JUNE 2, 2015 — Maersk Line today signed a newbuilding contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). The order is for eleven giant, second generation Triple-E container vessels with a capacity