Danish offshore vessel operator Maersk Supply Service has sold two of its older Anchor Handler Tug Supply Vessels (AHTS), citing the global oversupply in the market and the current market situation.
The vessels in question are the Maersk Advancer and Maersk Asserter. Both vessels were built in Germany in 2004.
Chief Commercial Officer of Maersk Supply Service Carsten Gram Haagensen: "As a response to the recent downturn in the oil and gas industry, we have re-evaluated our fleet composition and future fleet deployment.
"As we expect insufficient commercial opportunities for Maersk Advancer and Maersk Asserter, we have concluded that a sale of these assets is the most attractive solution. With this, we continue to take active steps to right-sizing the supply side of the market that the OSV industry needs for a sustainable recovery."
The vessels have been sold to an international buyer and will be modified for use in a non-competing industry, Maersk Supply Services said, without providing details on the financial aspect of the deal.
VesselsValue, a website providing vessel value estimates, views the Maersk Advancer as worth $8.04 million, and Maersk Asserter at $7.81 million.
During the previous downturn in the oil sector, Maersk Supply Service in 2016 set out to reduce its fleet in response to the global over-supply of offshore support vessels.
The divested vessels have been either recycled or modified by their new owners to compete outside of the offshore supply vessel segment. In total, 26 PSV and AHTS vessels have since 2016 left Maersk Supply Service’s fleet. After the recent sale, the company's fleet consists of 41 vessels.