SOFF Enters Shipbuilding Contract with STX OSV (Norway)

Solstad Offshore ASA (SOFF) has entered into a new contract with STX OSV AS for building of a construction service vessel (CSV) of type OSCV 03. The vessel’s contract value is around NOK 600 million (approx. USD 109 million) and she will be delivered during 2nd quarter 2014.

SOFF has signed a 5 year firm charter agreement for the vessel with Reach Subsea ASA, starting from delivery from the shipyard. In addition, the charterer has option to extend the contract with further 3 x 1 year. The value of the firm part of the contract is approximately NOK 650 mill.

Reach Subsea represents a new client for Solstad Offshore, and is an exciting addition to a growing subsea market. Although the company is young, the people and management team in Reach Subsea are well known to Solstad Offshore and to the subsea market.

The new vessel is 121 meters long, 23 meters wide and has a working deck of approximately 1.300 square meters. The vessel will be equipped with a subsea crane with 250 ton lifting capacity and a cabin capacity of 100 persons. The vessel is designed according to the latest environmental standards with focus on low fuel consumption, and precautions in accordance with the Det Norske Veritas’ (DNV’s) Clean Design requirements are incorporated in the design.

With this new investment, Solstad Offshore own and operates 21 subsea construction vessels, of which 2 are under construction. All are chartered to subsea contractors worldwide. In addition the Solstad fleet consist of 22 anchor handling vessels (AHTS) and 9 platform supply vessels (PSV).