hot into early summer in the North Sea, with a “remarkably strong” market for anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels, according to a leading shipbroker
Seabrokers shipbroking services reported that monthly spot rates for anchor handlers in the North Sea peaked in the first half of July at £175,000 (US$211,300) in the UK sector and Nrk2M (US$204,000) in the Norwegian sector.
With the number of rig moves easing and vessels returning to the spot market, Seabrokers said charterers saw rates easing towards the end of July. Spot rates retreated towards £35,000-40,000 (US$42,000-US$48,000) in the UK North Sea, while rates fell to Nrk500,000-550,000 (US$51,000-56,000) mark in Norwegian North Sea. “Those rates are a bit more palatable for charterers but still profitable for owners. Over the whole, it was still a painful month for most charterers, with average monthly spot rates around £100,000 (Nrk 1.2M) once again,” said Seabrokers.
In July, Equinor has extended the charter of the anchor-handling tug (AHTS) supply vessel Siem Opal by three months, according to Siem AHTS Pool AS
Operating in the Norwegian North Sea, the 2011-built VS 491 CD design anchor handler will continue to support Equinor’s various rig move activities during drilling campaigns. The contract extension will begin in September 2022. Dynamic positioning class-2 capable, Siem Opal has an overall length of 91 m, beam of 22 m, draught of 7.95 m, with a cargo deck area of 800 m2 and accommodation for 60.
Meanwhile charterers of platform supply vessels (PSVs) were faced with a volatile month, with monthly spot rates hitting £25,000 (about US$30,000 in the UK sector) and Nrk250,000 (US$25,500 in the Norwegian sector). “Some charterers capitalised on periods of better availability to secure rates at less than half those levels”, said Seabrokers, which reported average monthly spot rates of around £16,000-17,000 (US$19,000-US$20,500) and Nrk190,000-200,000 (US$19,000-20,000) for the UK and Norwegian North Sea, respectively.
