Dutch FPSO leasing company SBM Offshore has agreed to take full control of the diving support and construction vessel (DSCV) SBM Installer so it can easier sell it.
The vessel is owned by OS Installer, a JV company in which SBM Offshore has a 25% stake, with Ocean Yield owning the remaining 75%.
The Ocean Installer DSCV is on a long-term charter with SBM Offshore, with a contract ending in 2026.
SBM Offshore said Friday it had agreed to pay US$30 million in cash to Ocean Yield for the remaining 75% stake in the vessel.
"The vessel operates in a non-core market for the company. In order to gain the flexibility required to divest the vessel, the company will acquire the remaining 75% equity ownership in OSI," SBM Offshore, whose core activity is floating production business, said.
The transaction is expected to close around the end of the third quarter.
In its recent quarterly report, SBM Offshore said that due to the significantly deteriorated outlook in the offshore support vessel market, the company had impaired the remaining book value of the right-of-use asset and other related fixed assets associated with the SBM Installer vessel for a total of US$57 million.
In 2014, SBM Offshore sold the DSCV SBM Installer to OS Installer AS for US$150 million in cash and agreed to charter it for 12 years.
The DSCV SBM Installer is based on the MT-6024 design from Marin Teknikk in Norway. It was built by Keppel Singmarine in Singapore in 2013.
The vessel is currently moored in Las Palmas.