Offshore Support Journal Industry Leaders 2016

2016 A supplement to Offshore Support Journal
industry
leaders
50
of the most influential

people in the offshore support
vessel sector
The trendsetters, dealmakers,
innovators and industry leaders
shaping the future of the
embattled sector
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COMMENT | 1
David Foxwell, Editor
RECKONING
ARRIVING FOR
FAMILY OWNERS
his special supplement is dedicated to all of the industry

leaders, chief financial officers, bankers and bondholders
in the offshore vessel industry, many of whom have
spent the 12 months since the last OSJ Industry Leaders
supplement was published grinding out refinancing and restructuring
agreements. Not all have been successful, and such is the state of
the market right now that, just as some of the industry leaders and
companies in the 2015 supplement have not made it through 2016,
so by the time the 2017 supplement is published, some of those
profiled herein may also sadly be ex-OSV industry members.
Some of the industry leaders highlighted in this supplement have
been brave enough to call the bottom of the market, at least in the
sectors in which they specialise. Others see only a long hard road
through 2017 and beyond. There are some very big companies in the
US right now for whom the next 6-12 months will be make or break.
Its not out of the question that 1-2 of the biggest names in our industry
might soon file for bankruptcy protection. Some have admitted as
much; other companies are openly being discussed as potentially
having to do so. When companies such as Hornbeck Offshore have
getting on for three quarters of their vessels stacked and Bourbon has
a whopping 85 vessels laid up something needs to give. And it will.
Some of the leaders mentioned in this supplement believe
consolidation is the key. Kristian Siem an industrialist with an
industrialists eye on an industry that is wallowing in debt and
overcapacity is a believer in consolidation and recently entered
into restructuring talks with Farstad; Charles Fabrikant has his eyes
on GulfMark and has written to that companys board members
spelling out just why he thinks a merger with Seacor is GulfMarks
best option; Kjell Inge Rkkes Aker Capital blocked Rem Offshore
industry
leaders
Published November 2016
Editor: David Foxwell

t: +44 1252 717 898
e: david.foxwell@rivieramm.com
Brand Manager Sales: Ian Glen
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Sales: Indrit Kruja
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www.osjonline.com
from refinancing in order to bring about a merger with Solstad

Offshore, creating an entity that will probably act as a vehicle for
further consolidation in the sector before long. Mr Rkke is another
industrialist taking an industrialists view of the situation.
Others are strongly against consolidation: Hvard Ulstein,
managing director of Island Offshore is one of them. He told OSJ that
consolidation is not an option and noted that, in his view, the main
problem in the industry right now is long-term debt taken on to cover
new vessels. Mergers will not reduce the number of newbuilds, he
says, noting that the problem is made worse by new vessels entering
the North Sea from abroad. We are killing each other giving vessels
away for free, he said, adding that vessels need to be taken out of
market, not added to it.
As I write this in the first week of November 2016, the oil price
is falling again following publication of a record increase in US
crude oil stocks. Brent dipped for a time to US$46.5 per barrel and
WTI to US$45 per barrel, negating gains achieved since potential
production cuts were announced. Since that announcement, US
shale oil producers have hedged production for the next few
months, with the result that the supply from the US will increase
again. Costs for offshore projects have fallen steeply, which is
helping, but offshore production is actually rising, thanks to earlier
investments that are now coming on stream. There are too many
vessels by far in the market and nothing like enough of them are
being sold out of it or being scrapped. They never are. The banks
have shown endless forbearance, and have been supportive,
perhaps too supportive, and even bondholders have been
convinced to support restructuring, but in doing so they are only
delaying a reckoning for some industry leaders. OSJ
Sales: Colin Deed

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Executive Editor: Paul Gunton

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Published by:
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Chairman: John Labdon
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ISSN 2055-3749 (Print)

ISSN 2051-0594 (Online)
2016 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd
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Offshore Support Journal Industry Leaders 2016
1
Roy Reite
CEO and executive director,
Vard
n a downturn, everyone wants to diversify. Some manage to

do so better than others. Vard, where Roy Reite has been
CEO for a number of years, which has relied on the offshore
vessel market for a large part of its business, has diversified
more quickly and more effectively than many other yards. It was
seriously affected by the downturn in the offshore oil and gas
sector and reduced demand for offshore support vessels (OSVs),
but with strong support from its main shareholder, Fincantieri,
and growing co-operation between group companies, it has
quickly come to terms with the downturn and struck out in new
directions. It is often said that large organisations can be hard to
turn around or take in a new direction simply because of their size
and that smaller ones are more nimble, but Vard has responded
quickly and nimbly, especially for what is actually a large and
geographically diverse shipbuilding organisation. Other yards in
Norway in particular must envy its success. Mr Reite and his team
have plenty of challenges ahead especially perhaps in Brazil
where new work may be harder to come by and utilisation levels
at the yards in the group varies, but they have made a good start
to reorienting and restructuring the group as a whole.
The company has certainly succeeded in its plan to focus
on other engineering and technology-intensive parts of the
shipbuilding market, thus preserving its core expertise and skilled
employee base during the downturn and utilising its existing
yard capacity until an eventual recovery in its core market. With
its core market for high specification offshore vessels showing
continued signs of weakness, the group has begun picking up
orders from other sectors, such as the cruise ship market. It has
also strengthened its expertise and networks in new markets,
recording breakthroughs in the aquaculture market. A contract for
an advanced factory trawler for Norways largest trawler company,
Havfisk, has also been secured.
Mr Reite characterised 2016 as a year of transformation for
Vard, which it certainly has been, but it has also enjoyed success
in markets closer to home, securing a contract for the design

and construction of a large numbers of module carrier vessels
for Topaz Energy and Marine. In August 2016, the company
announced an order for the design and construction of two luxury
expedition cruise vessels for TUI Groups German luxury cruise
business, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Both vessels are designed for
cruises in polar regions in the Arctic and Antarctica but are also
prepared for operations in warm water destinations such as the
Amazon River. The hulls of the vessels will be built by Vards
shipyard in Tulcea, Romania, and delivery is scheduled from Vard
Langsten in Norway in the first quarter of 2019 and fourth quarter
of 2019, respectively.
More recently, Vard also announced that it has entered
into an agreement to acquire Storvik Aqua AS, a leading
equipment supplier in the aquaculture industry. Headquartered
in Sunndalsra, Norway, Storvik Aqua has a production facility
in Norway as well as subsidiaries in Chile and Scotland. The
company will continue to operate under its existing brand name,
but in close interaction with the Vard Aukra shipyard. Storvik
Aquas products will enable Vard Aukra to deliver specialised
vessels for fish farming with innovative integrated solutions,
differentiating it in the market. With a 30-year track record in the
industry, Storvik Aqua has an established customer base that
allows Vard Aukra to broaden its relations with potential clients in
the aquaculture business. The company also provides a platform
for the development of new solutions, in particular, in biomass
measurement and fish health-related equipment.
Speaking at the time that the deal was struck, Mr Reite said the
acquisition confirmed Vards position as a provider of innovative
solutions for the aquaculture business. We are excited about
the opportunities this generates for Vard, he said. He should be
excited the aquaculture business is growing, and offshore vessel
owners such as Deep Sea Supply are already moving into it and
ordering new vessels.
www.osjonline.com
Topaz goes the extra

mile, or however many
are needed.
Our award-winning service can be credited to an unwavering
focus on safety, quality and meeting our customers
expectations. Our modern fleet of over 95 vessels is, on
average, only 8 years old. This enables us to provide a
reliable, cost-effective, and most importantly, safe solution
for our clients.
For a comprehensive range of offshore support vessel services,
contact us today.
Email: commercial.topaz@topazworld.com
Tel: +971 4 440 47 00
www.topazworld.com
Smit Lamnalco is one of the

leading experts in the marine
support industry. We pride
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and crewing one of the most
modern FPSO support fleets in
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World class provider

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If you are looking for high performance vessels with advanced

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The Netherlands
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2
Johannes
stensj
chairman
stensj Rederi
egular readers of OSJ will already know about Johannes

stensj and the company he founded in 1974,
stensj Rederi. A regular reader would also be familiar
with his passion for innovation and vessel design, along with
his dedication to moving forward. Working with long-standing
partners, the company has been at the forefront of the marine
and offshore vessel industries for more than 40 years. 2016
saw the company become the first shipping company in the
world to obtain ISO 9001:2015 accreditation from class society
DNV. It also saw stensj Rederi take delivery of a particularly
sophisticated offshore construction vessel, Edda Freya, but
with the offshore support vessel market in the doldrums, Mr
stensjs company has already embarked on a new phase of
its development, having entered the offshore wind segment
with contracts for two service operation vessels (SOVs)
designed by Rolls-Royce.
The five-year contract for the first SOV, which will work for
Dong Energy, will see the newbuild vessel enter service on the
Race Bank offshore windfarm in 2017. At the time that the first
deal was announced, the company said it had actively been
pursuing opportunities in the renewable energy sector and
believed there would be further opportunities for similar vessels
in the near future. As it turned out, there were, and an option
for a second SOV was declared in May 2016, a vessel that has
also been contracted to work for Dong Energy, the worlds
leading developer of offshore windfarms, on its Hornsea Project
One offshore windfarm in the UK. This vessel will be delivered
in the third quarter of 2018.
www.osjonline.com
INDUSTRY LEADER PROFILES | 5
3
Steen Karstensen
CEO, Maersk Supply Service
aersk Supply Services new chief executive officer, Steen

Karstensen, has not been in his post for long, but as
head of one of the most important players in the offshore
vessel market, he has already made his position clear. He took over
as CEO at Maersk Supply Service on 24 October 2016, having been
the companys chief procurement officer before that. He joined the
group in 1986 and has had a 30-year career with the company in
procurement, logistics, supply chain, inhouse consultancy and other
cross-functional areas, so he knows all about the OSV market. He
was also responsible for Maersk Oil Trading and Maersk Maritime
Technology, which has given him in-depth exposure to energyrelated aspects of the Maersk business. In addition, Mr Karstensen
helped create Maersk Management Consulting from scratch.
Speaking at the time that his appointment was announced, Mr
Karstensen said he was excited about his new role. Maersk Supply
Service is currently operating in a very tough market but is well
positioned to broaden its scope of operations, said Mr Karstensen.
A strong balance sheet gives the business a position of strength
from which it can be part of the consolidation and restructuring that
inevitably will take place in the industry.
Maersk Supply Services take on the current crisis in the industry
is that hope is not a strategy and that supply-side action, through
scrapping and innovation, will be needed to restore profitability in
the OSV industry. Prior to Mr Karstensens appointment, Maersk
Supply Service had already announced its intention to divest
1520 units from its 54-vessel fleet and highlighted what it said
was a need to create a sustainable market environment, including
closer customer collaboration with flexible work scopes and new
commercial models with risk and liability sharing. Colleagues of
Mr Karstensen have expressed that banks which are postponing
amortisations and not taking haircuts are contributing to cash
cost pricing and that this is a significant obstacle to consolidation.
The company also recently confirmed that its onshore organisation
would be restructured too and reduced in size by up to 25 per cent.
Jacques
de Chateauvieux
chairman and CEO,

Bourbon
alling the bottom of the market takes expertise and

experience, something that Jacques de Chateauvieux,
chairman and chief executive officer of Bourbon
has in abundance. Not everyone would agree with Mr de
Chateauvieux by any means, but Bourbon says it believes the
bottom of the market has been reached in some segments of
the offshore vessel industry. Announcing its second-quarter
and first-half 2016 revenues, the company said the impact of
the oil market cycle reaching its bottom was evident in its firsthalf 2016 adjusted revenues of 599.2 million, a 21.0 per cent
decline year on year and 11.7 per cent reduction compared to
the second half of 2015.
Bourbon said its performance during 2016 is and will
reflect the full impact of the down cycle, as illustrated by a
quarter-on-quarter reduction adjusted revenues. However, the
company said the bottom of the market in the subsea segment
was reached in the first quarter of 2016, and it is anticipated
the improvement in utilisation rates in the second quarter will
continue in quarters to come. The company said the bottom
of the market for the crewboat segment was in the second
quarter of 2016. In what it characterises as its deepwater and
shallow-water segments, Bourbon said it anticipates the bottom
of the market will be in the third quarter of 2016, due to the late
cyclical nature of this business.
More than ever, Bourbon is focusing on what it can
control: safety, reliability, cost control and improved efficiency
to the benefit of customers, said Mr de Chateauvieux,
noting that the company is ready to benefit from the market
recovery when it materialises.
www.osjonline.com
Edward Heerema
5
Charles Fabrikant
CEO, Seacor Holdings
arlier this year, we published a piece based on a letter

to shareholders by one of the best-known leaders in the
industry, Charles Fabrikant, in which he said he was at a
loss to predict the timescale for recovery in the OSV market. Not
many experts, if any, anticipated the virility of this downturn three
years ago, said Mr Fabrikant, CEO of Seacor Holdings. Few now are
ready to debunk the consensus of lower for longer. Unfortunately,
the severe and precipitous drop in the price of oil and natural gas and
the excessive orderbook for offshore support vessels highlighted in
our letters dating back to 2013 have impaled the offshore business,
he said. Mr Fabrikant pointed out that a letter to shareholders in 2013
warned of a storm on the horizon. In his letter to shareholders of
2014, he sounded a klaxon for a category 4 hurricane. Now, he
says, offshore vessels are in a category 5 storm. The severity of that
storm led Mr Fabrikant to propose that Seacor Holdings spin off its
offshore marine subsidiary, Seacor Marine Holdings.
Doing nothing and sitting back, waiting for the upturn (and, when
advantageous, shrinking our capital base) should eventually provide
good (perhaps very good) returns on Seacor Marine Holdings, he
said. We believe, however, that using our global presence and
financial strength to participate in the consolidation of the industry
should reward stockholders even more handsomely.
Well, now it seems the time has come for the company to play a
role in consolidating the market. October 2016 saw Mr Fabrikant write
to the board of directors at fellow offshore support vessel operator
GulfMark suggesting that the companies merge. He went on to
ask the board of directors at GulfMark to consider a pre-packaged
reorganisation and combination with Seacor Marine Holdings,
noting that the operations of Seacor Marine Holdings and GulfMark
have significant overlap, making the realisation of synergies readily
achievable. We believe now, more than ever, that we are entering
a period of the offshore marine business cycle when size, global
diversity and financial strength and liquidity are the key to surviving to
capitalise on an upturn, he said. Watch this space.
www.osjonline.com
president, Allseas
any of the industry leaders in this special supplement

have been building companies for decades, but few
can claim to have pursued a vision of building a vessel
for more than a quarter of a century. Such as man is Edward
Heerema, president of Allseas, whose vision came to reality this
year when the vessel he had so long imagined started work in the
North Sea. To describe that vessel, Pioneering Spirit, as unique
hardly does it or Mr Heerema justice, but at work it now is,
having recently completed its first project, the removal of the
13,500-tonne Yme mobile offshore production unit in the North
Sea, 100km off the coast of Norway, on behalf of Repsol Norge.
Much has been made of the importance to the
decommissioning market of the cost-effectiveness of single-lift
vessels, and Pioneering Spirit is leading the way. Analyses of that
market suggest that new-generation single-lift vessels (SLVs) like
Pioneering Spirit will play a major role in reducing costs, in many
cases, making decommissioning projects feasible. As one recent
study by Douglas-Westwood noted, a huge amount will depend
on the success of early removal projects Yme and Brent. With
successful removal of the Yme platform, Mr Heerema was able to
demonstrate the unique single-lift capabilities of Pioneering Spirit
more than 25 years after he first conceived of the leviathan,
which can lift topsides of up to 48,000 tonnes and jackets up to
25,000 tonnes.
6
8 | INDUSTRY LEADER PROFILES
Jan-Pieter Klaver
CEO, Heerema
Marine Contractors
hen he joined the company 21 years ago, a civil engineer

fresh out of the Delft University of Technology, Jan-Pieter
Klaver had no idea he would one day become CEO.
In 2009, however, Jan-Pieter took the helm of HMC after a career
path that exemplifies the diversity and dynamism of the Heerema
Group. Prior to becoming CEO, he held many positions. He worked
as a project co-ordinator, learning about platform construction, and
at Heeremas former yard in Norway. He also worked in business
development at Dockwise, the heavy-lift company that Heerema
owned until 2006. He also ran Heeremas Vlissingen yard, became
chief operations officer of Heeremas fabrication group and returned to
Heerema Marine Contractors as COO.
Mr Klaver describes Heerema as having a can-do culture that
depends on teamwork and enthusiasm characteristics that come
in handy when you are developing a project like Sleipnir, the massive
semi-submersible crane vessel that the company is building in
Singapore. Due to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2018, the
DP3 semi-submersible heavy lifter is intended for the installation and
decommissioning of offshore facilities worldwide. It will be equipped
with two Huisman heavy-lift offshore cranes, each of 10,000 tonnes
lifting capacity, and will have a large reinforced work deck. With a
length of 220m and breadth of 102m, the new vessel will be the largest
semi-submersible crane vessel in the world. It will have dual-fuel
engines and will be built at the Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard.
With its tub-mounted cranes and dual-fuel engines, Mr Klaver says the
unit will offer unparalleled installation and decommissioning services.
Heerema Marine Contractors already owns four of the worlds
largest crane vessels Thialf,
Balder, Hermod and Aegir, the
most recent addition of this type
to its fleet as well as a range
of anchor-handling tugs and
modern transportation barges,
including H-851, the worlds
largest barge. Introduction of
the new vessel will enable it to
meet growing customer demand
for lifting capacity beyond what
even it, with its massive assets,
can currently offer.
7
Jean Cahuzac
CEO, Subsea 7
he subsea segment of the offshore vessel industry has

not been immune from the downturn, and a number of
subsea companies entered the third quarter of 2016
needing to see their order backlog boosted. Subsea 7s CEO,
Jean Cahuzac, leads one of them and must have been relieved
to see the company secure the award of what it described as a
substantial contract offshore Egypt in October. The contract was
awarded by Pharaonic Petroleum Company and will be executed
at water depths of over 900m in the Atoll field. It will see Subsea 7
made responsible for engineering, procurement, construction and
installation of more than 40km of rigid pipelines and associated
structures for the Atoll field, tying into the existing Taurt field at
a water depth of 100m. A 105km umbilical will also be installed
linking the Atoll field to shore, with the offshore campaigns, which
will take place in the second half of 2017 and the early months of
2018, using several of Subsea 7s high spec but not inexpensive
vessels, including Seven Borealis, Seven Eagle and Seven Arctic.
Prior to the Egyptian deal, Subsea 7 had not announced
any new contracts for several months a fact that cannot have
gone unnoticed by the companys management and board. The
company has to face up to the reality that its backlog is expected
to shrink by around 40 per cent by the end of 2016, said one
broker. Unlike some of its competitors, such as Technip, Subsea 7
does not have another leg to stand on other than offshore work.
When time are tough offshore, as they are currently, Technip
benefits from its onshore activities. The good news for Mr Cahuzac
is that, apart from the Egyptian deal, there are currently a number
of active subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (Surf) tenders that
are due to be awarded soon, including Mad Dog phase II in the US
Gulf, the Leviathan project in Israel and Fortuna floating liquefied
natural gas project in Equatorial Guinea, all of which are sizeable
projects. By the time you read this, Subsea 7 might just have
bagged one of them.
www.osjonline.com
Jeff Platt
Christian Berg
former CEO,
president and CEO, Tidewater Viking Supply Ships
he last 12 months have been far from easy ones for Jeff
Platt, Tidewaters CEO, and his colleagues. October
2016 saw the company, which has been in discussions
with its principal lenders and noteholders to amend the
companys various debt arrangements to obtain relief from certain
covenants, secure another extension to waivers from lenders and
noteholders who had earlier waived compliance with covenants the
company entered into. The latest extension saw the waivers extended
until 11 November 2016. However, Tidewater has warned that, without
an agreement with them, it could be forced to opt for bankruptcy.
The company previously reported that progress was being made
in negotiations with its principal lenders and noteholders in order to
obtain the covenant relief it needs. However, recent industry data,
including data regarding projected levels of offshore drilling activity
a primary driver of activity in the offshore service vessel industry
has led the company to conclude that important debt terms will
require further negotiation.
Tidewater said, While the company will continue to work
towards amendments to its various debt arrangements that will
be acceptable to all parties, there is a possibility that the lenders,
noteholders and the company will not be able to negotiate new
debt terms that are acceptable to all parties, in which case, the
company will have to consider other options, including a possible
reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws.
The companys shares fell by a whopping 45 per cent after it
made the announcement. By the time that this special supplement
is published, more should be known about the future of one of the
OSV industrys best known, largest players and whether Mr Platt has
secured an agreement that the company so desperately needs.
10
C
hristian Berg is no longer CEO of Viking Supply

Ships, having relinquished the post he held for five
years shortly after completing a refinancing deal for
the company. That deal took many, many months to
complete and would have taken a heavy toll on anybody. He
is succeeded as CEO by interim CEO Bengt Rem, with Folke
Patriksson taking over as chairman of the board for as long as Mr
Rem is interim CEO. The good news is that Mr Berg will remain
with the company and take on various projects within the group
and act as an adviser to the board of directors.
Mr Berg and his colleagues worked for many months to secure
agreement from bondholders for an agreement that has allowed
the company to restructure. Under the terms of the proposal,
50 per cent of the outstanding par value of the bonds will be
converted to quoted class B shares in Viking Supply Ships parent
company, Viking Supply Ships AB, at SKr1.5 (US$0.17) per share,
the bonds being valued at 55 per cent of par. The remaining 50
per cent of the outstanding bonds will be redeemed in cash at a
price corresponding to 35 per cent of par.
That Mr Berg and his colleagues were able to secure an
agreement with bondholders is important for the company, and
for the industry as a whole, given Viking Supply Ships expertise in
ice-class ships and their operations, which is unique in the offshore
vessel industry. Were it to have gone under, the implications would
have extended well beyond the company itself.
Kjersti Kleven
chairman, Kleven Maritime
Kjell Inge Rkke

director, Aker Solutions
11
K
jell Inge Rkke doesnt directly own vessels, like so many

Norwegians highlighted in this special supplement, but
in the offshore industry, he has long been one of the
individuals who makes the weather in the industry as a whole. He
certainly made the weather in 2016, when one of the companies
of which he is a director, Aker Solutions, forced a merger between
two of the best known owner/operators of offshore vessels,
Solstad Offshore and Rem Offshore, both family-owned units.
Aker Group held an interest in both companies and effectively
blocked a deal that would have allowed Rem Offshore to reach
agreement with bondholders. Preventing it from doing so also
prevented it from restructuring, thus forcing it into a deal with
Solstad. Aker was also heavily involved in the restructuring of
Solstad. Mr Rkke is a believer in the need for restructuring at
industry level, not just companies, and his companys plan has
brought that about. It is unlikely to be the last such merger, either,
and the company created by Solstad and Rem could well have a
role in shaping the industry in future.
Aker saw the deal as a necessary structural measure in
todays OSV market and one that will enable the combined
company to achieve significant synergies through more efficient
operations and a lower cost base. As was noted at the time that
the deal was struck, the combination of the industrial expertise,
M&A capabilities and financial strength of the companies (that is
Aker, Solstad and Rem together) will provide a strong platform
through the new company for further development of the industry.
More recently, reports have suggested that the Norwegian
industrialist is interested in other well known family-owned OSV
businesses, almost all of which have had to examine all possible
options to survive the downturn.
jersti Kleven is the third generation of Klevens at the

Norwegian shipbuilding group. She has been chairman
of the board since 2002. The Kleven family still owns
around 90 per cent of the shares in the company, one
of Norways most successful shipyards, which has continued to
win new orders, albeit at a reduced rate, since the downturn in the
offshore oil and gas sector got underway.
Currently, Kleven is working on a sophisticated cablelay vessel
for ABB, a vessel of SALT 306 CLV design that is also providing
much needed work for a number of local suppliers in the maritime
cluster on the northwest coast of Norway, among them Brunvoll,
Hareid Group and ABB Marine in Ulsteinvik. The vessel is due to
be delivered from Kleven Verft in 2017.
June 2016 saw Kleven launch the first of a new class of high
spec anchor handlers it is building for Maersk Supply Service. The
offshore vessel owner ordered six Starfish-class anchor-handling
tug/supply vessels from Kleven, which were designed for high
levels of reliability, safety and uptime. The newbuilds are unlike
any other anchor handlers currently on the market. The contract
for the new anchor handlers was signed in 2014. The first unit is
due to be delivered in the first quarter of 2017 with the last due to
be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Early May 2016 saw Grand Canyon III delivered to Volstad
Maritime by Kleven shipyard in Norway. Build 377, Grand Canyon
III is a sistership of Grand Canyon and Grand Canyon II. On 9
January, Debmarine
Namibias diamond
sampling/exploration
vessel was launched at
Kleven Verfts yard in
Ulsteinvik, Norway. The
first-of-its-kind, highly
specialised vessel for
deepwater mineral
exploration will be
fitted with a range of
customised equipment
and features. Recent
months have also seen
Klevens Myklebust yard
complete upgrade work
on Aker Wayfarer.
12
www.osjonline.com
Kommer Damen
chairman,
Damen Shipyards Group
13
K
ommer Damen, chairman of Damen Shipyards Group, was

recognised for his leadership in the shipping and offshore
sectors when he received OSJs Industry Leader award in
2014. The award was made based on his vision, which has been
at the heart of the phenomenal growth that Damen Shipyards has
seen in recent years and the companys highly successful entry
into the offshore vessel sector.
2016 has seen Mr Damens company continue to innovate
and expand into growing sectors in the offshore industry, such as
offshore wind. In January 2016, Bibby Marine Services Ltd, part
of Bibby Line Group, signed a contract with Damen Shipyards
Group for delivery of its first SOV. The walk-to-work vessel
Bibby WaveMaster 1 will undertake offshore wind project work
in the North Sea. Damen said the design guarantees fast, safe
and comfortable access to turbines ... up to 80 per cent of the
time, including in the worst case scenario in Central North Sea
conditions. The vessel is capable of providing access up to
3.1m significant wave height (Hs). Bibby WaveMaster 1 is being
built at Damen Shipyards Galai in Romania and is expected to
be launched in mid-2017. The company describes the design
as much more than just a vessel it is a total access and
accommodation solution.
Apart from its ability to innovate and design new types of
vessel that owners really want, Damen has always benefited from
building a wide range of vessels. Among the latest are a number
of heavy-duty mooring assistance and escort tugs that will be
built for Edison Chouest Offshore in the US (see elsewhere in this
special supplement).
www.osjonline.com
14
Kristian Siem
director, Siem Offshore

chairman, Subsea 7
ristian Siem has long been a leading figure in the offshore

vessel sector through his involvement with Subsea 7 and
Siem Offshore. In addition to involvement in these leading
companies in the OSV sector, Mr Siems company, Siem Holdings,
also holds shares in Star Reefers and Siem Car Carriers and is
active in a range of other sectors in Sweden and Germany. Kristian
Siem was the founder of Siem Industries and has been director and
chairman of the company since 1982. He is chairman of Subsea 7
and Siem Capital AB and a director of Siem Offshore. He became
chairman of the board of directors of Subsea 7 in January 2011.
Siem Industries is a diversified holding company that operates
through its autonomous industrial subsidiaries and affiliates.
Despite the sharp and prolonged downturn in the offshore
vessel sector, Mr Siems company says it remains committed to
the offshore oil and gas market. In its annual report for 2015,
published in early May 2016, the company said it expected the
downturn to last for several years and noted that reduced day
rates for the vessels in the group had affected the valuations of
its fleets. Related impairments of goodwill and assets in Subsea 7
and Siem Offshore have been substantial, it said, but also that it
remains committed to the oil service industry and to the delivery
of excellence in execution and predictability in performance
and safety. In November Mr Siem's companies were confirmed
as potential backers of a restructuring effort at offshore vessel
owner Farstad.
15
Lars Peder Solstad
chief executive, Solstad
16
Jon Are Gummedal
CEO, Deep Sea Supply
016 has been a tumultuous year for Lars Peder

Solstad. October saw the merger of Solstad Offshore
and Rem Offshore, an event in which the Aker Group,
which stepped in to help Solstad Offshore restructure,
played a major role. The result of the merger of Rem with
Solship Invest 1 AS, with Solship Invest 1 AS being the
surviving entity, could well see the company play an ongoing
role in the consolidation of the offshore vessel industry.
In a normal year in the offshore vessel sector, the addition
to its fleet of a vessel such as Normand Maximus would
have been a notable event, but all else this year has been
overshadowed first by the restructuring of Solstad Offshore
itself and then by the merger with Rem. A naming ceremony
for its newbuild offshore construction vessel was held at Vard
Brattvg shipyard in Norway on 15 July 2016. Saipem has
agreed to charter the vessel for a period of eight years plus
options following delivery. Saipem will use the DP3 vessel
for the execution of projects in challenging environments
worldwide, with a particular focus on East and West Africa,
Brazil, Australia, the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
After many weeks of negotiations, in September 2016,
Solstad Offshore was able to confirm that its banks had
approved the companys financing plan and that it had entered
into a sale and lease back agreement for the vessel Normand
Maximus. The company said a share capital increase,
private placement, the raising of a convertible loan and the
agreement for Normand Maximus had been completed on
terms satisfactory to Aker Capital. The companys bondholders
approved the financing plan in early July 2016.
on Are Gummedal, Deep Sea Supplys chief executive

officer, has worked for the company since January 2014,
first as technical director with responsibility for the
technical management and crewing of the companys fleet.
He became CEO of the company in April 2015. Prior to joining
Deep Sea Supply, he was technical director at Wilson ASA,
managing a fleet of 86 vessels. Mr Gummedal has more than
13 years of experience in the shipping industry, with the last
seven years in senior management positions.
One of the most important developments at the
company he now leads saw Deep Sea Supply complete
a comprehensive amendment to its loan facilities and an
agreement with DPC Servios de leo e Gs (DPC) to roll
up DPCs 50 per cent stake in the joint venture DESS BTG,
which was owned 50/50 between DPC and the company.
The company said the refinancing would preserve its liquidity
position and better position it through the current market
downturn. Through a roll-up of DPCs stake in the DESS BTG
joint venture, the company exchanges the remaining 50 per
cent ownership in the joint ventures fleet of 21 offshore
vessels at favourable terms for limited cash proceeds and
dilution through the issuance of DESS common shares and
warrants to DPC. Under the refinancing deal that the company
secured, it will not pay scheduled amortisations under its
bank facilities until 31 March 2018, including bank debt in
DESS BTG, deferring a total amount of up to US$68 million.
Loan facilities maturing in October 2016 will be extended until
October 2018, and as such, the company will not have any
material debt maturities over the next two years.
www.osjonline.com
Jon Erik Reinhardsen

president and CEO, PGS
arine seismic companies

are usually the first hit by a
downturn in the offshore oil
and gas industry and are often the first to
detect signs of an upturn. This seems to
be the case at PGS, which is led by Jon
Erik Reinhardsen. In recent statements,
seismic players such as PGS have
said that, although the market remains
challenging and is likely to remain so
until 2017 at the earliest, cost cutting and
operational efficiencies are paying off.
Marine seismic contractors such as
PGS say the gradual recovery in the oil
price means that they are starting to see
early signs of market stabilisation and
improving sentiment, although there is
a long way to go. We believe that this

has started to impact our multiclient
performance positively, said PGS,
when it issued its most recent financial
statements in July 2016. It said the marine
contract market is still characterised
by very low pricing, but here too we
see indications of more predictable
patterns in customer survey planning and
contracting processes. PGS also noted
that, due to vessel stacking, the supply/
demand balance for seismic vessels has
improved significantly since mid-2015.
Describing the companys position
in more detail, Mr Reinhardsen said its
liquidity position was adequate and there
were no material debt maturities until late
Karl-Johan Bakken
CEO, Farstad
arstad is one of the best-known offshore support vessel

companies in Norway. Like many companies in that
sector, it has been hard hit by the huge drop in demand
for its services as a result of the downturn caused by the low
oil price. Like many companies this year, Farstad Shipping has
been forced to enter into a standstill and deferral agreement
with its lenders as it seeks a long-term solution to its financial
situation. At the time of writing, the company was pursuing
various options to strengthen its financial position and capital
structure including evaluating potential strategic alternatives.
One of those it seems is an agreement with Siem Industries for
the latter to participate in the restructuring of the company.
As a first step of a financial restructuring of the Farstad
group, on 30 June, Farstad and a majority of its secured lenders
reached the above-mentioned agreement. Pursuant to the
agreement, the relevant lenders agreed to a postponement of
all amortisations of the Farstad group falling due to them in the
period from and including 1 July 2016 until 1 October 2016, and
a defeasance (a provision that voids a bond or loan when the
borrower sets aside cash or bonds sufficient enough to service
the borrowers debt) of all financial covenants during the same
period of time. The company will continue its operations, subject
to certain restrictions to ensure the interest of its lenders.
www.osjonline.com
17
2018. With an amended maintenance
covenant for our revolving credit facility,
we have strengthened our ability to
navigate beyond the trough of this cycle
and created a substantial time window to
address 2018 refinancing needs in tune
with how the market develops, he said.
More recently, the parties that agreed to the standstill and

deferral agreement agreed to extend that agreement until 10
November 2016, thus buying extra time for the company that Mr
Bakken leads. In the meantime, Farstad has sold a number of
vessels and continued to work to optimise its operating model,
fleet composition and fleet utilisation as well as operating cost
improvements. It has also decided to concentrate its oil service
activity in Australia in Perth and plans to close its management
office in Melbourne.
In November, it was confirmed that the company Mr Bakken
leads was in discussions with a company in the Siem Industries
group and had signed a non-binding letter of intent for the
financial restructuring of Farstad Shipping.
In a statement, Farstad said Siem or a fund managed by Siem
would act as an equity investor in Farstad.
In accordance with the letter of intent, Farstad Shipping and
Siem are continuing discussions with stakeholders in Farstad
Shipping group with a view to finding a solid financial platform for
Farstad Shipping's continued operations.
18
Lionel Lee
chairman, Emas AMC
CEO, Ezra Holdings
lmost all offshore vessel companies are seeking to

refinance and restructure in order to survive what
is currently a brutal market, and Lionel Lee-led Ezra
Holdings is no exception. Fortunately for Mr Lee, it
seemed that, as of late October, whereas some players in the
offshore vessel space have had long, seemingly intractable
problems with bondholders, Ezras bondholders are in a frame of
mind to agree with the companys plans.
The company told regional media in Singapore that late
October informal meetings with bondholders were calm and
positive. The meetings were held to see if Ezra Holdings can
obtain more leeway from holders of its US$150 million notes due
in 2018. It is also working on a refinancing plan with its banks.
Mr Lee and his colleagues are said to be seeking to convince
bondholders to waive certain financial covenants as well as their
right to demand immediate repayment from any events of default
arising from Ezras ongoing debt restructuring attempts.
Mr Lee had been hoping that Ezra Holdings might be able to
proceed with a rights issue, but that plan was scuppered at least
for the time being when fellow offshore vessel company Swiber
collapsed. No banks were willing to look at a rights issue in the
offshore vessel space in such an environment, Mr Lee said.
In a presentation to noteholders at the meeting that was
posted on the Singapore Exchange, Ezra Holdings said it expects
the offshore oil and gas environment to further deteriorate
before stabilising in the medium term, a view shared by other
offshore support vessel owners.
19
20
Jan Fredrik Meling
president and CEO,
Eidesvik Offshore
idesvik Offshore will need to raise capital to help it

continue to weather the downturn in the industry, said the
chief executive of the Norwegian OSV owner Jan Fredrik
Meling, speaking at the recent Pareto conference. Mr Meling
said that, like many other Norwegian OSV owners, the company
would also need to enter into a dialogue with bondholders but
did not provide guidance on what level of capital it needed to
raise or when it would need to do so or say how soon talks with
bondholders might be necessary.
Mr Meling told the Pareto conference that the lower fuel
consumption of its vessels relative to its competitors had
helped it weather the downturn in the market. He noted that,
with demand for platform supply vessels particularly weak, the
seismic part of Eidesviks business was becoming more important
in terms of earnings.
Eidesviks chief executive said the company had a decent
backlog in 2016/17, but it was weaker thereafter. The company has
also been able to cut NKr45 million (US$5.6 million) of costs with
effect from November 2016
Recent months have seen Eidesvik Offshore expanding into
new areas, with Viking Poseidon commencing work on a contract
for Siemens Wind Power. The contract had an estimated duration
of three to five months including options and was described
by Mr Meling as one in a strategic area of business for the
company. We are very pleased that Siemens has awarded us
a contract in this interesting market, he said. Viking Poseidon
had been in layup since a previous charterer, Harkand, went into
administration. In February 2016, Eidesvik Offshore confirmed that
the vessel Acergy Viking had been chartered to Siemens Wind
Power for nine months as an accommodation and service vessel in
the German sector of the North Sea.
www.osjonline.com
21
Jeffrey Weber
managing director,
MMA Offshore
effrey Weber-led MMA Offshore says the market for offshore

support vessels remains under pressure from a rates and
utilisation perspective and is finding the market in West
Africa especially challenging. MMA said the first quarter of
its new financial year was broadly in line with expectations in
the companys Australian, Southeast Asian and Middle East
operations. However, the West African market is extremely
challenging at present, so MMA has taken the decision to move
some vessels out of the region to the Middle East and Southeast
Asia. This has resulted in lower than expected earnings in this
region over that period and substantial redeployment costs.
In an October 2016 statement, the company said two
newbuild vessels, MMA Prestige and MMA Pinnacle, are nearly
complete. MMA Prestige is currently being set up as a diving
support vessel with a saturation diving spread and remotely
operated vehicle capability. MMA Pinnacle has the crane to fit,
which will be completed in November 2016.
On this basis, the company does not expect any substantial
earnings from these vessels in the first half of the 2017
financial year when compared to original expectations. MMA
has also sold Jaya Installer 10, an accommodation barge,
which is positive from a cash perspective but also impacts
first-half earnings.
The market for the companys services is extremely
difficult to predict. However, on the basis of the above, MMA
expects that full-year
operating EBITDA will
now be in the order of
approximately US$2025
million, said MMA. On a
positive note, the company
has managed to firm up
the forward orderbook
with some term work and
anticipates the second half
of the 2017 financial year
to be stronger than the first
half as the new vessels start
working and contributing
to earnings.
The company said it is
in ongoing dialogue with its
banking syndicate, which
continues to be supportive
of the company in what Mr
Webber and his colleagues
have described as a very
challenging market.
www.osjonline.com
22
John E Stangeland
CEO, NorSea Group
ell known in the offshore oil and gas industry as a

provider of supply bases and logistics solutions,
NorSea Group is expanding into renewable
energy and has established a wind centre of
excellence in the form of NSG Wind A/S. The company can deliver
a full range of services to the offshore wind industry and has
already won contracts in several countries, including Denmark,
Germany, the UK and Taiwan. The new company, part of Danbor,
which NorSea Group acquired from Maersk in 2014, will ensure
that the group can develop and provide services for offshore wind
customers among them operators, wind turbine manufacturers
and other companies in the offshore wind supply chain.
European offshore wind markets continue to grow, and the
markets in Asia and North America are mushrooming, said NorSea
Groups chief executive officer, John E Stangeland, speaking at the
time that the formation of the new company was first announced.
There is a growing need for a palette of services the NorSea
Group has built up over the past 50 years, including seabed
investigation, cable inspection, onshore and offshore logistics,
installation, service and maintenance, specially designed vessels
and other offshore equipment. Given the market situation, offshore
wind is an obvious step for us to take.
Mr Stangeland and his colleagues have also identified
decommissioning as a potential growth area.
Mikael Makinen
president marine, Rolls-Royce
he downturn in the offshore industry, problems in the

shipping sector and concerns about the performance of
Rolls-Royce as a whole have led to speculation about the
future of some parts of the company, but chief executive Warren
Easts review of operations made no mention of any concerns about
Rolls-Royce Marine. However, the downturn in the offshore oil and
gas sector has led Rolls-Royce Marine to look for new markets in
response to the downturn in its offshore business. These could
include vessels such as offshore windfarm support vessels and
deepsea mining ships but could also include mid-spec offshore
vessels, it is said.
In the meantime, Rolls-Royces marine business, which is led by
Mikael Makinen, has a number of focus areas, of which digitisation
is certainly one. Theres no doubt that the digitisation of shipping
is happening and happening fast, said Mr Makinen recently, so I
expect that will be a hot topic once again. The wider availability of
new cloud-based technology and big data platforms is going to have
a dramatic impact on how the shipping industry manages information,
not to mention how it will operate in future. Were seeing solid growth
in the use of data, with owners wanting more real-time information
to better manage their assets. That is as true in the offshore vessel
space as it is in the rest of the shipping sector. For Rolls-Royce, said
Mr Makinen, it means a new way of thinking and a new way of
running our business, he said, noting the company was nearing
the completion of a major exercise to reshape our business around
the future market, and that, of course, means shaping our business
around the future demands of our customers.
He went on to say that what low oil prices have taught us
is that we need a business with more balance that can address
the future technology challenges facing our customers across all
sectors, not only those involved in offshore. What our experience
of offshore does give us though is a suite of proven technology
that can be used elsewhere, in adjacent markets. Mr Makinen said
the last 18 months have rocked many parts of our industry. but
in some ways, this period has created a much sharper focus on
what lies ahead in terms of technology.
23
Mons Aase
CEO, DOF
24
M
ons Aase, DOFs CEO, has had to adjust to the

steep downturn in the offshore vessel market as has
every other CEO in the industry. His company is also
exposed to the Brazilian market, which has been affected by
the downturn in the Brazilian economy as a whole and by the
corruption scandal there.
However, as he explained at the recent Pareto conference,
DOF is exposed only at what might be characterised as the high
end of the offshore vessel fleet in Brazil. The company has a
long-established strategic position in Brazil and has benefited
from having Brazilian-flagged vessels, a high level of local content
and local employees. Mr Aase said new contracts secured by
the group in the first half of 2016 confirmed the groups strategy.
DOFs Brazilian fleet is protected by flag regulations, he told
delegates. The main fleet owned by DOF in Brazil is protected
through the CAA certificate system favouring locally flagged and
built vessels. The legislation he had in mind has indeed been
instrumental in keeping Brazilian-flagged vessels on contract when
so many non-Brazilian companies have seen their vessels lose
contracts in the last 1218 months. DOF has actively reduced its
non-Brazilian vessels since December 2014.
As he also explained, DOF has been able to secure work
in niches such as that for anchor-handling tug/supply (AHTS)
vessels, where the Brazilian-flagged AHTS fleet does not meet
demand. Hence, there is still need for international vessels in this
segment, he said, noting that owners of local tonnage have the
right to import and reflag international vessels to Brazil and gain
CAA protection.
Through its subsidiary DOF Subsea, the DOF Group is similarly
well positioned in the pipelay support vessel (PLSV) segment. DOF
has six PLSVs, including newbuilds, of which four were Brazilian
built and two can be imported with Brazilian rights. There are no
other known Brazilian-built PLSVs.
In the bigger scale of things, DOF also reached an important
milestone earlier this year when DOF ASA completed a refinancing
agreement under which DOF ASA restructured its capital. The
conclusion of Mr Aases presentation was that DOF is positioned
to withstand a prolonged downturn and that DOF Group has
mitigated the effects of the weak market via its global footprint,
diversified portfolio of vessels, focus on subsea projects, high
backlog, local content in Brazil and strengthened balance sheet.
www.osjonline.com
Peter Bordowski
CEO, Boskalis
25
www.osjonline.com
oyal Boskalis Westminster, which has expanded

rapidly into the offshore market during the boom
in the offshore oil and gas industry when the oil
price was high, says it expects the low oil price
to continue to have a damping effect on opportunities in the
industry for some time but will continue to promote integrated
offshore solutions in the offshore oil and gas and offshore
renewables sectors.
Speaking at last months Pareto conference in Norway,
representatives of the company told delegates that Boskalis
was pressing ahead with its fleet rationalisation and costreduction programme but would continue to promote
integrated offshore solutions in both sectors and seek
opportunities that strengthen its competitive edge. This would
include collaborating with clients to cut complexity and
increase cost efficiencies.
Led by CEO Peter Berdowski, Boskalis has benefited from a
solid balance sheet and plans to continue to bid for a growing
range of offshore work. Having long operated as a dredging
and marine contractor, Boskaliss offering in the offshore
market now includes offshore support services; inspection,
maintenance and repair; installation; decommissioning; wet
and dry transport of heavy structures and modules; transport
and installation including mooring and hook-up, seabed
intervention and landfalls for pipelines; platform and subsea
infrastructure removal; and anchor-handling tug/barge-based
logistics support.
Boskalis has also quickly emerged as a provider of
balance of plant engineering, procurement, construction
and installation solutions for turbine foundations, converter
stations and cables for offshore windfarms. July 2016 saw the
Dutch offshore, marine, heavy-lift and dredging contractor
awarded the balance of plant for construction of Aberdeen
offshore windfarm, also known as the European Offshore
Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC). The contract included all
offshore elements for the windfarm, with the exception of the
wind turbines, and is worth in excess of 100 million.
Said Mr Berdowski, After a few very busy years, the market
outlook for Boskalis has changed drastically as a result of
continuing low energy and commodity prices. The volume
of work in the market has fallen sharply, and this is putting
pressure on the utilisation rate of our vessels. Because we
expect these market conditions to persist in the coming
years, it is essential that we adapt the size and composition
of our fleet to this new reality. We are fully aware that this
intended decision will have a major social impact. While we
will try to absorb the workforce reduction through attrition and
redeployment, compulsory redundancies unfortunately look to
be unavoidable. A reduction of the number of vessels and jobs
is however necessary to ensure that Boskalis remains healthy
going forward. A total of 24 vessels will be taken out of
service in the 20162018 period as a result, and around 650
employees are to be made redundant.
Pieter van Oord

CEO, Van Oord
uly 2016 saw Van Oord reach agreement on the acquisition

of the offshore wind activities of Bilfinger Marine & Offshore
Systems, the German company active in the engineering,
construction and installation of foundations for offshore
windfarms and harbour construction. The agreement covers
the acquisition of assets and employees related to the offshore
wind activities. Van Oord said the deal would provide a boost to
its offshore wind business unit. The acquisition will be finalised
after it has been approved by the Bundeskartellamt, the German
competition authority. Van Oords chief executive officer, Pieter
van Oord, said the company wants to bolster its position in the
offshore wind industry in northwest Europe and focus more on
the German market.
In addition to the acquisition, Van Oord has also announced that it
will be investing in a significant modification of its turbine installation
vessel Aeolus. The crane on the vessel, which has a lifting capacity
of 900 tonnes, will be replaced by a crane with a lifting capacity of
1,600 tonnes. At the same time, the capacity of the vessel to transport
foundations and other components will be extended to enable Van
Oord to install larger foundations and heavier turbines. The crane has
been ordered from Huisman in The Netherlands. The modification of
Aeolus will be completed in early 2018.
Recent years have also seen Van Oord acquire Ballast Nedam
Offshores operations and expand its offshore wind fleet with the
acquisition of the heavy-lift installation vessels Svanen, Aeolus and
the cablelaying vessel Nexus. At the end of August, the company
completed construction of the Gemini offshore windfarm in Dutch
waters and recently completed installation of the foundations on
the Burbo Bank Extension offshore windfarm in the UK. In 2017, Van
Oord will start installation of the foundations for the Arkona offshore
windfarm in German waters, working on behalf of E.ON, and has
also been contracted by Dong Energy for the installation of the
foundations for the Walney windfarm in the UK.
26
27
Quintin Kneen
president and CEO,
GulfMark
here has been a lot of speculation about offshore

vessel companies in the last 1218 months, among
them GulfMark, whose CEO is Quintin Kneen. As
reported elsewhere in this special supplement, Charles
Fabrikant, chief executive of Seacor, recently wrote to the board
of directors at GulfMark suggesting that the companies merge. Mr
Fabrikant said he believed that GulfMark was at a crossroads it
could restructure its debt and continue operating independently,
incurring costs of a public company and overheads for a small
fleet with limited employment, which would deplete value to
the detriment of shareholders and creditors, or it could choose
to restructure its debt and combine with a financially stronger
participant in its industry, thereby benefiting from cost synergies
and positioning for future growth.
At the time of writing, Mr Kneen had not made any formal
response to the proposal. GulfMark is certainly heavily indebted
a fact that leaves Mr Kneen very little flexibility. Non-cash
impairments have left its financials looking challenged, but there
are still plenty of analysts out there who believe that not only will
GulfMark survive, but that its investors will benefit significantly
when the upturn arrives. At the time of writing, the company was
due to publish its latest financials in mid-November, just as this
special supplement was due to go to press.
www.osjonline.com
28
Irene Waage Basili
CEO, GC Rieber Shipping
C Rieber Shippings latest results, published in August

2016, saw the company hit impairments. The company
benefited from several contracts it had secured, but
the group had a loss of NKr453.8 million (US$54.9 million) in the
second quarter, compared with a profit of NKr103.4 million (US$12.5
million) in the corresponding period in 2015. The negative result
in the second quarter 2016 is mostly due to impairment of its fleet
of NKr335.5 million (US$40.6 million) and low levels of activity in
the subsea and marine seismic segments. However, October 2016
saw Irene Waage Basili-led GC Rieber Shipping sign an agreement
with Rasmussengruppen to establish a new, jointly owned marine
geophysical company called Shearwater GeoServices. The
companies said Shearwater GeoServices will become an integrated
provider of marine geophysical services to oil and gas and multiclient
companies worldwide. Starting out with a fleet of four modern, high
capacity seismic vessels, Shearwaters core strategy will be to provide
high quality marine geophysical services and utilise the companys
position as the most cost-efficient company in the industry.
Over a period of time, we have examined opportunities to establish
a new geophysical company, based on the four high end vessels we
currently own. In Rasmussengruppen, we have found a partner who
shares our view of the opportunities offered by the geophysical market
at present and, equally important, who shares our vision of building
and developing Shearwater into a leading player in the industry, said
Mrs Waage Basili. Rasmussengruppen has extensive experience from
investing in maritime industries and oil services over several decades.
GC Rieber Shipping and Rasmussengruppen will own the
company 50/50. Shearwater will take over the four high capacity
seismic vessels Polar Empress, Polar Duke, Polar Duchess and
Polar Marquis, and the partners will also inject US$60 million in
equity in the form of cash. Terms have been renegotiated with the
lending banks for the four vessels. The new terms include a 75 per
cent reduction in instalments compared to the original repayment
profile until June 2019
and an extension of the
term of the loans until year
end 2022. Shearwater
has also agreed on the
main terms to purchase
the seismic equipment
(including streamers) and
the operative entity, Dolphin
Geophysical UK Ltd, which
includes the processing
business from the former
lending banks of
Dolphin Geophysical.
In November, Irene
Waage Basili temporarily
left her role as CEO of GC
Rieber Shipping, having
been apointed interim CEO
of Shearwater.
www.osjonline.com
29
Ren Kofod-Olsen
CEO, Topaz Energy and Marine
ome companies are faring better in the downturn than

others. One such company is Topaz Energy and Marine,
which is part of a consortium led by Blue Water Shipping that
was recently awarded a contract with a value in excess of US$350
million by the Tengizchevroil (TCO) joint venture in Kazakhstan.
Under the terms of the agreement, Topaz will commission the
construction of 15 newly designed module carrying vessels (MCVs).
The vessels will commence work in the second quarter of 2018
for a minimum contract period of three years and were designed
in collaboration with Vard group in order to navigate shallow
river systems as they transport modules and cargoes through the
Russian waterways to the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan. The 123m
vessels will be built in three Vard yards in Romania and Vietnam.
Topaz Energy and Marines chief executive officer Ren KofodOlsen said the award reinforced the companys reputation as a
trusted offshore logistics partner. He noted that the contract was
the second large contract awarded to Topaz this year, following
the contract to supply 14 offshore support vessels to BP in
Azerbaijan as announced in March 2016. Speaking at the time
that the BP deal was announced, Mr Kofod-Olsen said the deal
would enable the company to build a position there in the face of
what remains a challenging market. The agreement provides a
long-term platform from which to build further scale in the broader
Caspian and adds significantly to Topazs credit strength through
tremendous revenue visibility, he said.
31
Rod Starr
CEO, Polarcus
o navigate the challenging market, we remain focused on

delivering operational excellence and on maintaining our
strong backlog, said Rod Starr, CEO of marine seismic
specialist Polarcus when he announced the companys secondquarter results. He noted that three new contract awards were
secured during the quarter, with all representing new revenue
sources. Two projects are located in countries that Polarcus
has not previously operated in, and the third is to be acquired
with the companys new XArray technology, a new acquisition
configuration that enables increased efficiency while providing
enhanced data quality to the companys clients.
We continue to drive costs down to succeed in the current
market, and as a result, we realised a further drop in gross cost
of sales by 4 per cent from already low levels in the previous
quarter, he said. As expected, total cash dropped during the
quarter as a result of a working capital build-up, which should
improve in the third quarter. The build-up is largely a result of
extended payment terms negotiated earlier with one client,
payment from whom was received in July.
We expect the difficult market conditions to continue into
2017, Mr Starr continued. In this challenging environment,
we will continue with our plan to focus on the areas under our
control through maintaining strong fleet utilisation, aligning
costs with business activity and executing projects safely and
efficiently. In line with our core values, we will also continue to
promote innovative ways to deliver excellence to our customers.
30
Shane Guidry
chairman and CEO,
Harvey Gulf International Marine
ecent months have seen Harvey Gulf International Marine

take delivery of its third liquefied natural gas (LNG)powered OSV. Harvey Liberty joined sisterships Harvey
Energy and Harvey Power. Speaking at the time that the vessel
was delivered, Harvey Gulfs chief executive and chairman,
Shane Guidry, said delivery of the vessel was another significant
step on the path for Harvey Gulf to establish itself as a leader
in utilising LNG as a marine fuel. The LNG-powered vessels
provide vessel owners with an alternative fuel to meet sulphur
and nitrogen oxide emissions regulations in the North American
emission control area.
Another milestone for Mr Guidrys company this year saw
Harvey Gulf International Marine take delivery of Harvey Stone,
a RAmpage 6400 multipurpose field support vessel (MPFSV),
designed by Robert Allan Ltd of Vancouver, Canada. This year
has also seen Eastern building Harvey Sub-Sea and Harvey
Blue-Sea, two MPSVs based on a design provided by Vard
Marine. Harvey Blue-Sea was expected to be delivered by
year end, after outfitting and sea trials are completed. The
RAmpage 6400 MPFSV was ordered in July 2014 and launched
in December 2015. It was delivered to the owner on 29 August
2016. With a length overall of approximately 64.6m, the vessel
has a bollard pull of 121 short tons and total horsepower of 9,374
bhp. It is fitted with two GE Marine 12V250MDC IMO II, EPA Tier
4-compliant diesel engines producing 4,687hp at 1,000 rpm,
driving Schottel SRP3030 controllable pitch propellers in nozzles
via Reintjes PTI/PTO clutches. The vessel has two Schottel STT2
bow thrusters to enhance manoeuvrability.
Growing concerns about sulphur emissions could see more
areas, including the Gulf of Mexico, Turkish Straits, Sea of Japan
and Strait of Malacca, declared as emission control areas in the
near future, vindicating Mr Guidrys decision to take the company
into LNG-fuelled vessels and build a bunkering facility for LNGfuelled ships.
www.osjonline.com
Hrvard Ulstein
CEO, Island Offshore
ecent weeks have seen what looks like the beginning

of consolidation in the OSV sector. Some actors in the
OSV supply chain say more consolidation is inevitable,
but others fiercely oppose the idea. For the likes of
Solstad Offshore and Rem Offshore, the solution was effectively
decided for them by Aker ASAs refinancing deal, which has
seen the two companies merged into a single entity. For Siem
Offshores owner Kristian Siem, a pooling arrangement is the
preferred choice, but all choices are made harder because the
Norwegian offshore sector has traditionally been a family affair,
and some do not want this to change.
For other owners, however, such as Hvard Ulstein,
managing director of Island Offshore, consolidation is not an
attractive option, even though the market remains mired in a
deep recession, with owners such as Mr Ulstein expressing
dissatisfaction with the treatment that has been meted out to
them by the charterers of their vessels. Mr Ulsteins view is that,
across the industry, the main problem is long-term debt taken on
to cover new vessels. Mergers would not reduce the number of
newbuilds, he says, and according to Mr Ulstein, the problem is
made worse by new vessels entering the North Sea from abroad.
We are killing each other giving vessels away for free, he said,
adding that vessels need to be taken out of the market, not
added to it.
All agreed that the reaction of the oil companies has not
been helpful. They are taking vessels only on short-term
contracts, which, in some cases, can be just days, and more
importantly, they are not prepared to pay premium rates for
vessels with sophisticated equipment that has been fitted at the
oil companies insistence. Mr Ulstein cited the case of vessels
powered by LNG and the high cost of both the engines and fuel
for this kind of vessel. Although they agree that LNG reduces
maintenance and keeps engines cleaner, they regret having
been drawn into LNG as fuel projects. Mr Ulstein said that two
vessels in the Island Offshore fleet with Bergen gas engines
were actually being operated on their diesel generators for
much of the time and that putting them into layup would be
disastrous. Looking ahead, however, Mr Ulstein said there is a
consensus that the market will come back and in fact is already
coming back as the cost of extracting oil is coming down.
Sren Nrgaard Thomsen

managing director, Esvagt
iversification has been one of the

keys to surviving the downturn
in the offshore oil and gas
sector caused by the steep fall in the oil
price. Broadly speaking, companies have
diversified into new geographic markets,
although often they are affected by all of the
same problems mainly lack of demand
that affect the markets in which they are
already active, or they can move into a
new sector, which is what Sren Nrgaard
Thomsen, managing director of Esvagt, has
chosen to do.
Mr Thomsen has diversified very
successfully and is one of only a few
offshore vessel owners to have placed
shipbuilding contracts recently. In
Mr Thomsens case, however, with
the exception of a recent order for a
multipurpose vessel that will work for oil
www.osjonline.com
32
33
company Hess once it is delivered in 2018,

the orders that the company has placed
have been for vessels for the fast-growing
offshore wind industry.
2016 has been a year of transition for the
company Mr Thomsen leads. May 2016 saw
the company dispose of Esvagt Omega, a
vessel that has had the greatest influence
on Esvagts development. Its working life
spanned 40 years in total, of which 28 years
were spent in service with the company.
As Mr Thomsen noted recently, the
last financial year was a difficult one, in
which, like every other company, Esvagt
felt the effects of the low oil price and
low level of activity. However, Esvagt was
still able to deliver a profit and is now less
dependent on the offshore oil and gas
sector, thanks to contracts in the offshore
renewables industry.
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35
T
34
Stig Remy
an Sri Datuk Tiong Su Kouk, executive chairman of

Malaysia-based Nam Cheong, says that, although
oil prices have rebounded from their lows since the
beginning of 2016, the offshore and marine industry continues
to be under pressure. This has invariably affected the flow
of OSV orders for Nam Cheong, which used to build large
numbers of vessels on spec. In response, he said, We continue
to be prudent by tightening our cost management and are glad
to note that our shipbuilding segments gross profit margin has
improved during the second quarter.
In a statement, he said that, with its significant cash and
cash equivalent position, a slowing rate of cash required for
working capital purposes and financing
support from banks and bondholders, he believed that Nam
Cheong has sufficient financial resilience to overcome the
downturn. In addition, he said, given the substantial interest
in Nam Cheongs shares of close to 60 per cent collectively
held by the board and the management team, shareholders can
be assured that our interests are closely aligned with that of
all stakeholders, noting that current dynamics of the industry
remain challenging but Nam Cheong is working hard to
mitigate its effects.
CEO, Olympic Ship
n October 2016, Stig Remy-led Olympic Ship AS in

Norway, which has been seeking ways to refinance and
twice extended a standstill agreement with secured
lenders, said a consortium of local investors is willing to
invest in a restructured Olympic group. In a statement, Olympic
said that, subject to certain terms and conditions, including the
successful completion of discussions with finance providers
and board approval of the investors, the consortium is willing
to invest approximately NKr500 million (US$60.5 million), out
of which approximately NKr400 million (US$48.4 million) is new
liquidity. The investment is contingent on a restructuring of the
group, which needs to be agreed with the finance providers. The
current shareholders will be invited to participate in the share
issue on equal terms. Companies controlled by Mr Remy are
among the investors in the consortium. The remaining parties in
the consortium are investors with direct or indirect connections
to the maritime cluster in Sunnmre, Norway. I am happy to
have succeeded in establishing a local consortium that believes
in Olympic and the companys fleet. It is very positive that the
maritime cluster in Sunnmre has again proved its ability to find
local solutions, said Mr Remy.
The statement from the company said, The consortiums
willingness to invest is a highly important step towards finding and
agreeing a restructuring of the group and its financing structure,
which may involve structural changes to the group. However,
several other important elements remain, and the company
will work with its finance providers, the consortium and other
stakeholders to reach such a solution, but no guarantee can be
given that such agreements can be found in a timely manner.
In anticipation of the successful outcome of the discussions,
the group will continue to operate normally.
www.osjonline.com
Tan Sri Datuk

Tiong Su Kouk
executive chairman,
Nam Cheong
Thierry Pilenko
chairman and CEO, Technip
ecember 2016 is due to see Technip and FMC

Technologies hold shareholder meetings to vote
on the proposed combination of the companies.
As announced on 19 May 2016, Technip and FMC
Technologies intend to combine to create what they describe as a
global leader that will drive change by redefining the production
and transformation of oil and gas.
Unlike some of its competitors in the subsea market, Thierry
Pilenko-led Technip has the advantage of being a leader in
project management, engineering and construction for the energy
industry as a whole, from subsea oil and gas developments to
the largest and most complex offshore and onshore infrastructure
projects, but like the rest of the subsea market, it has been hard
hit by the downturn.
Announcing the companys third-quarter 2016 results, Mr Pilenko
said Technip had increased targets for its subsea division, after
the company beat third-quarter expectations helped by cost cuts.
Mr Pilenko said the company was seeing pockets of growth in
the otherwise subdued North Sea market, with a number of final
investment decisions in new fields and sustained activity in Brazil,
which had enabled it to raise its outlook.
The third quarter also saw Technip beat forecasts with adjusted
net income up 12.4 per cent at 184 million.
36
37
Thorsten Jalk
CEO, Ziton
016 was a big year for Thorsten Jalk, chief executive at Ziton
A/S, who led windfarm support vessel operator DBB Jack-Up
out of DBB Group and rebranded the company. Speaking at
the time that the rebranding was announced, Mr Jalk said the new
name, signals an increased focus on specialist expertise in offshore
wind turbine maintenance.
As the offshore wind energy market continues to develop,
specialist companies such as ours need to adapt with it. Our
new name signals our continued dedication towards providing
specialised services in operating and maintaining offshore wind
turbines, he explained, noting that the new name also marks Zitons
independence from DBB Group, which is based in Aarhus, Denmark.
Mr Jalk said, Operations and maintenance practices are
becoming increasingly advanced, which means greater focus is
needed. The ownership group decided therefore that the company
would be more effective as a fully independent entity. Removing
Jack-up Services from the company name marks our readiness
to further expand our scope of services. We are growing with our
customers and their requirements for wider services, and Ziton
provides us with the right framework.
Shortly after the move was announced, Ziton and Dong Energy
entered into a framework agreement that will see Ziton provide
operations and maintenance services related to main component
exchanges on out-of-warranty offshore wind turbines for the next
three years. Ziton will provide its jack-up crane vessels for main
component exchanges in Danish windfarms operated by Dong
Energy not covered by OEM warranty. The current three-year
agreement has an option to be extended to five years and may
also include other Dong Energy-operated windfarms in Denmark
and the UK. Jobs will include exchanging blades, rotors, blade
bearings, main bearings, gearboxes, generators and transformers
in addition to other tasks requiring a stable lifting platform. Projects
will involve supplying project management, preparation of project
plans, including site-specific analysis, marine operations plans
and lifting plans, lifting operation and supervision, and design and
construction of seafastening.
Mr Jalk said framework agreements of this type are important
for the industry because they provide a commercial setup that
allows service providers to take a long-term perspective, which will
contribute to driving down costs in a sustainable manner.
www.osjonline.com
38
Todd Hornbeck
chairman, president and CEO,

Hornbeck Offshore Services
Blair Ainslie
CEO, Seajacks
ne of the early movers in the offshore wind industry,

Seajacks began building jack-ups for use in the
offshore oil and gas industry in the southern North
Sea, but it is as an installer of turbines for the offshore
wind industry that the company has really made its name.
Blair Ainslie, the companys long-standing CEO, has many
years of experience in the offshore industry and has guided the
company from a focus on offshore oil and gas to a long-term focus
and leading position in the offshore wind industry. His company
recently took delivery of its latest turbine installation vessel,
Seajacks Scylla. Based on the GustoMSC NG14000X design,
Seajacks Scylla has more than 8,000 tonnes of variable deck
load and is equipped with a 1,540-tonne leg-encircling crane. It
has a usable deck area of in excess of 5,000m2 and is fitted with
105m legs with the ability to install components in water depths
www.osjonline.com
n the years preceding the downturn in the offshore oil and

gas sector, Hornbeck Offshore Services placed contracts
for large numbers of offshore support vessels, but as a
presentation by Todd Hornbeck, chairman, president and CEO of
Hornbeck Offshore Services (HOS), explained, the company has
had to stack many of the newbuilds as they entered service, such
is the severity of the downturn.
Mr Hornbeck has not been afraid to stack ships in large
numbers. The presentation said HOS has stacked a total of 45
new-generation OSVs and had plans to stack three additional
OSVs in the third quarter of 2016. As he explained, stacking vessels
reduces operating expenses to between US$500 and US$1,500
per day per vessel, and the company is able to defer cash outlays
for drydocking the ships until market conditions improve. Doing so
also reduces the wear and tear on vessels and reduces incident
rates and other operational risks. Above all, it helps to rebalance
the supply/demand equation by reducing excess tonnage and
enhances vessel pricing and margins on high spec, actively
marketed vessels. The company recently constructed 18 Jones
Act-qualified 300-class DP2 high spec OSVs with an estimated
cost of US$45 million per vessel, and it is constructing six Jones
Act-qualified HOSMAX DP2 multipurpose platform supply vessels
(PSVs) of various classes with four deliveries pending two were
due to be delivered in the third quarter of 2016, with the final two
multipurpose PSV deliveries postponed until the first and second
quarter of 2018.
Mr Hornbeck said that, when the recovery comes, the companys
ultra high spec fleet will drive earnings power. The company has
no debt maturities until 2019, 2020 and 2021 and strong asset
coverage to net debt.
39
to 65m. It is thus capable of meeting the installation needs of
jumbo monopiles, jackets and turbines of future windfarms in
deeper waters farther from shore. These same features make it
ideally suited to Round 3 projects of the type that are due to get
underway in UK waters.
Built by Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea, Seajacks Scylla is
the largest and undoubtedly one of the most capable installation
jack-up vessels built to date. It can handle so-called XL monopiles
and jacket foundations and is able to transport a large number
of the 7MW and 8MW turbines that are being introduced into
the offshore wind market. Classed by classification society ABS,
Seajacks Scylla complies with ABSs requirements for selfpropelled jack-up units, including DPS-2 for dynamic positioning
capability, ACCU, which applies to automatic centralised control
unmanned units, and CRC for crane register certificate.
41
Clive Richardson
CEO, V.Group
.Group has long had a presence in the offshore oil and

gas sector but significantly increased that presence earlier
this year when it acquired Bibby Ship Management, part
of the Bibby Line Group, which has an established track record
for providing high quality, safe and reliable shipmanagement and
support services to blue-chip clients. Bibby Ship Management
services all types of vessels and has particular strengths in the
management of offshore vessels. It also provides extensive
crew management solutions, technical support services, marine
travel, marine surveying, training and recruitment services. With
332 personnel in the UK, Isle of Man, Sweden, Ukraine, India,
Philippines and Singapore, Bibby Ship Management complements
V.Groups expertise in vessel management and support services
across all vessel types.
We believe our combined capabilities offer a compelling
outsourcing proposition to our clients, helping optimise operating
and budgetary performance for shipowners, said V.Group chief
executive officer Clive Richardson, who joined V.Group in July
2009 after holding various senior management positions in the
defence and commercial aerospace industries including QinetiQ,
Insyte, Royal Ordnance and BAE Systems.
Mr Richardson and his colleagues believe that the acquisition
of Bibby Ship Management strengthens V.Groups overall position
in shipmanagement and maritime services and extends its
position in the offshore market. As a result, this acquisition gives
the combined customer base access to extensive management
capabilities across all sectors at a crucial time when shipowners
and operators are facing unprecedented challenges and are
exploring strategic options for the management of their fleets,
said the company.
40
Dagher Darwish
Al Marar
CEO, Esnaad
ecent weeks have seen Adnoc announce its intention to

consolidate the operations of three of its shipping, marine
and services companies to create a single entity. Abu
Dhabi National Tanker Company (ADNATCO), Petroleum Services
Company (Esnaad, which is led by CEO Dagher Darwish Al Marar)
and Abu Dhabi Petroleum Ports Operating Company (IRSHAD) will
be integrated to drive efficiency and optimise resources and assets
across their various operations to maximise value. HE Dr Sultan
Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE minister of state and chief executive officer of
the Adnoc Group, said, This consolidation is aligned with our longterm vision and the core pillars of our business strategy, focused
on efficiency, performance, profitability and people. By leveraging
the experience and assets across the three companies, we aim to
deliver an improved and cost-effective service to meet the needs
of the Adnoc Group. The consolidation will capture synergies,
generate savings and ensure value creation. Upon completion of the
integration, the new company will be uniquely positioned to further
extend its services to customers worldwide.
The consolidated company will enjoy a legacy of over 40 years of
international shipping experience, marine and port management, oil
field services and logistics across the oil and gas sector. It will provide
global seaborne transportation and storage services related to
petroleum products and other shipping segments. The new company
will also offer a range of marine, ports and closely related oil field
and logistical services, including petroleum ports operation, pilotage
services, supervision of crude transfer operations, single-point
mooring terminal maintenance services, high speed craft operations
and port and container yard operations.
The consolidated company will operate more than 165 vessels,
including LNG vessels, bulk carriers, chemical and products
tankers, container and container-feeder vessels, as well as modern
multipurpose vessels and offshore support vessels. In the longer
term, the consolidated company will enjoy a competitive advantage
based on its ability to deliver high quality, integrated cost-effective
services across the hydrocarbon value chain. Work on consolidating
the operating companies into a single marine and services company
is underway under the guidance of an Adnoc-appointed steering
committee. The integration is expected to be complete by the end
of 2017.
www.osjonline.com
42
Gunvor Ulstein Herbert Ortner

CEO, Ulstein Group
CEO, Palfinger
lstein Group in Norway has a long-established reputation

for designing and building innovative vessels for the
offshore oil and gas sector. It has become known around
the world for its X-BOW hullform and, more recently, for the
X-STERN too.
Led by Gunvor Ulstein, the companys CEO, 2016 has seen
Ulstein Group deliver its first vessel into a related industry, offshore
wind energy, in the form of Windea la Cour, which also happens to
be the first-ever vessel built with the X-BOW and X-STERN.
The service operation vessel was delivered to Bernhard
Schulte Offshore (BS Offshore) on 23 June 2016. In a statement,
Ulstein said that, during sea trials, the crew noted the vessels
smooth motions and the very low levels of noise and vibration,
an important factor on a vessel that will be used to transport
windfarm technicians to the Gemini offshore windfarm off the
Dutch coast. To transfer windfarm technicians, the vessel has an
Uptime heave compensated gangway and a daughter craft with
capacity for 10 people. Spare parts
and equipment can be transported in containers, of which six
can be placed on deck and six under deck. The vessel also has
workshop facilities and accommodation for 60 in single cabins, of
which 40 cabins are dedicated to the technicians.
Windea la Cour was not the only innovative vessel designed by
Ulstein that was delivered this year, however. Another was the first
of a new class of anchor-handling salvage tugs for ALP Maritime,
ALP Striker. The new ship is of the SX157 design from Ulstein and
is known to the owner as the ALP Future class.
More recently still, the company Gunvor Ulstein leads has also
moved into designing and building super yachts and, potentially,
cruise ships.
www.osjonline.com
43
F
ew Austrian companies have become leading players

in the offshore oil and gas sector. Being based in a
landlocked country, offshore oil and gas and offshore wind
might seem odd markets for an Austrian company to target, but
cargo-handling specialist Palfinger is doing just that under the
leadership of CEO Herbert Ortner. In fact, recent months have
seen a spate of news stories about Palfinger, which is carving out
a fast-growing share of business in those sectors. It has made
a number of acquisitions, not least of Harding, the Norwegian
lifesaving equipment manufacturer, and plans more. Speaking to
OSJ at the SMM exhibition in Hamburg in September, Mr Ortner
said, We will continue to find the right acquisition partners.
Speaking at the time the Palfinger deal was done, Styrk
Bekkenes, formerly chief executive of Harding and now one of two
managing directors at Palfinger Marine, said its acquisition was just
the beginning. We are planning further acquisitions and further
growth. This will include expanding its safety-related activities,
he indicated. We have a 50/50 focus on both safety and deck
equipment, he said. Palfinger is a perfect match for Harding.
Our combined range of products and services will be unique in
todays marine industry. We will stand stronger together and see
huge advantages for both the equipment and service side of our
business. For our customers, this will be a huge advantage, as in
future, we will be able to offer services on more than one type of
equipment during the same service assignment.
Asked if it was wise to invest at a time when the offshore
market is weak, Mr Ortner said that this created an environment
in which company owners wonder whether they would be better
in a larger and stronger group. It is a good environment to make
acquisitions, but we are very long-term oriented. We dont focus
on quarterly results.
Herbjrn
Hansson
44
chairman, Nordic American Offshore
erbjrn Hansson, chairman of Nordic American

Offshore (NAO), knows as well as anyone how
difficult the market for offshore support vessels
is currently, but he remains confident about the
company and its potential. Not many owners can honestly say that
they see opportunities to grow their companies, but Mr Hansson
claims he does. Mr Hansson has also persevered and paid a
dividend to shareholders.
NAO now has 10 high quality platform supply vessels built
in Norway in the period 20122016. Eight of them are now in
operation, and NAO Horizon and NAO Galaxy, the most recently
delivered, which were taken over in April 2016 and June 2016,
will remain at the yard that built them until the market picks up.
Mr Hansson notes that a specific feature of the vessels is their
low fuel consumption, resulting in low emissions and in attractive
transportation economics. The vessels are also particularly well
suited to North Sea operations.
Most recently, the board of NAO decided to declare a dividend
for the second quarter of 2016. Since its establishment in late
2013, NAO has paid dividends for 10 consecutive quarters. At the
end of the second quarter of 2016, NAO had net debt of US$122
million for its 10-vessel fleet or about US$12.2 million per ship.
US$132 million of its US$150 million credit facility was drawn, but
the credit facility does not mature until March 2020, which gives
it much more breathing room than some companies. NAO also
claims to maintain industry-leading cash breakeven levels of about
US$11,000 per day per vessel, including financing costs and G&A
costs. As a matter of policy, says Mr Hansson, the company always
focuses on maintaining a strong balance sheet with low net debt.
Going forward, NAO sees commercial and strategic opportunities
for expansion. We concentrate on keeping our vessel operating
costs low, while always maintaining our strong commitment to
safe operations. As we expand our fleet, we do not anticipate that
our administrative costs will rise correspondingly, he said. We
encourage prospective investors interested in the offshore supply
vessel sector to consider buying shares in NAO.
www.osjonline.com
Matthias Mller
managing director,
Bernhard Schulte Offshore
46
ernhard Schulte Offshore may not be one of the biggest

or best known players in the offshore vessel market, but
under the leadership of managing director Matthias Mller,
it has burst into the offshore wind market with an order for a pair
of service operation vessels.
Mr Mller and his colleagues know that the situation in the
offshore oil and gas market is demanding, with the low oil price
pushing charter rates down and projects being postponed. They
know that, in the offshore wind industry, cost reduction is also
an issue, but note that this kind of situation is one that Bernhard
Schulte group has long been familiar with from the commoditised
merchant shipping sector in which it primarily operates. The group
has adjusted the way it works to provide high quality services
at competitive prices, and it says that this same approach is
now being made available to the offshore industry through BS
Offshore, the offshore unit of Bernhard Schulte.
The summer of 2016 saw its first SOVs start work on the Gemini
offshore windfarm in The Netherlands. Its client is a blue-chip one,
Siemens Wind Power Service, and the vessels role is to support
ongoing service and maintenance of 150 Siemens wind turbines
on the project.
It seems the companys client is happy with the SOV too. Ren
Cornelis Wigmans, head of maritime and aviation solutions at
Siemens Wind Power Service, said the company was delighted
to be the first to charter the innovative service operation vessel,
which also happens to be the first in the world with Ulsteins
X-STERN hullform, and it also has the X-BOW.
45
www.osjonline.com
Nick Henry
CEO, James Fisher
ed by CEO Nick Henry, UK-based James Fisher and Sons

Plc has steadily expanded its footprint in the offshore sector.
As reported in the 2015 Industry Leaders supplement, these
have included acquisitions such as Subtech, Mojo Maritime and
the National Hyperbaric Centre (NHC) along with significant asset
investments including mass flow excavation equipment and workclass ROVs added to its fleet. The company also formed a new
division James Fisher Subsea which unites group diving and
ROV expertise.
Mr Henry joined James Fisher in February 2003 as managing
director of James Fisher Tankships Ltd and was appointed CEO in
December 2004. He worked for 20 years for P&O Containers and
P&O Ports, of which 10 years were in senior management positions
based in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, The Netherlands
and the Indian subcontinent. His experience encompasses a
wide range of commercial and operational roles, including fleet
management and information technology. He is a member of the
supervisory board of the UK Chamber of Shipping.
The last 12 months have seen the company consolidate its
position offshore, both in the offshore oil and gas and offshore
wind sectors. It has also recently made more acquisitions.
Commenting on the companys latest results, Mr Henry highlighted
strong performance in specialist technical, marine support and
related sectors, which had offset reduced activity levels in offshore
oil and gas. With new contracts in renewables, defence and
nuclear decommissioning contributing and continued firm demand
for ship-to-ship services, Mr Henry was expecting a resumption in
growth in the second half of the year.
48
Pang Yoke Min

executive chairman, Pacific Radiance
47
Steinar Riise
CEO, Ocean Installer
ang Yoke Min-led offshore support vessel owner Pacific

Radiance Ltd recently negotiated a series of agreements
with its main bankers and financial partners to refinance
its existing term loans and renew revolving credit facilities
totalling approximately US$185 million due in the near to medium
term. With the support of the groups key lenders, the profile of
the term loans has been refinanced to 12 years from an average
of seven years, and the maturities have largely been extended
from 2019 to 2021. As a result, the groups loan principal
repayment burden will reduce by approximately US$103 million
over the next three years to 2019. This is expected to enhance
the groups liquidity position and financing cash flows in the near
to medium term.
Mr Pang said, The new arrangements represent a clear vote
of confidence from our key financial partners not just in our
financial standing but also in our strategic plans for the future.
The timely extension of our long-term financial arrangements has
secured us a stronger footing to weather this gruelling industry
downturn as we await the sector recovery.
Pacific Radiance said it has worked to strengthen its financials
and enhance cash flow since the onset of the industry downturn
in late 2014, in line with its risk mitigation strategy. This includes
the successful amendment of a financial covenant in November
2015 under the groups only bond issue due in August 2018 to
avoid any technical breaches. The company has not committed
to any new capital expenditure for its fleet expansion programme
since mid-2014 the last of the newbuild vessel deliveries that
it committed to previously is expected to be made by early 2017.
The group also recently entered into a settlement agreement
to receive the full refund of US$10.6 million in pre-delivery
instalments for the construction of two platform supply vessels.
ounded in the years when the oil price was high and
demand for subsea vessels growing, Ocean Installer has
survived the downturn that has polished off some of its
competitors. Led by an experienced industry professional in its
CEO Steinar Riise and backed by HitecVision, the company is
headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, with offices in Aberdeen,
Houston, Mexico City, Perth, Dubai and Rio de Janeiro. The
company has strong engineering, procurement, construction and
installation expertise in the subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines
segment and had expanded its operations and organisation
beyond the North Sea basin in which it was first established.
The company came into being not long after the merger of
Subsea 7 and Acergy, which reduced the number of players in
the subsea market, leaving space for newcomers such as Ocean
Installer, especially given the fact that, at the time, the subsea
market was growing. Mr Riise started out as a project engineer at
Brown & Root in Stavanger and, as Subsea 7 Norways commercial
director from 2005 to 2008, was responsible for tripling the
companys revenues over a three-year span. When I was with
Brown & Root and Subsea 7, we went from a schedule with four
ships to 25 ships, Mr Riise said.
At the time that the company was formed, Mr Riise said
that one of Ocean Installers main strengths was that it had a
small but highly flexible organisation, with straight lines from
the customer to the top decision makers. Customers will know
that theyre not just a number in a row; they will enjoy all our
attention, he said.
The last 12 months have seen Ocean Installer win mooring
work offshore Malta, complete its first deepwater mooring job,
form an alliance with Aquatic Engineering in the Americas, secure
a trio of contracts from Statoil, win work offshore Nigeria and
secure a regional framework agreement with BP. The market in
which the company now finds itself operating is not the healthy
one that Mr Riise no doubt envisaged when he founded it, but
Ocean Installer is now firmly part of the subsea segment when
others have fallen by the wayside.
www.osjonline.com
Annual Offshore
Support Journal
conference | awards | exhibition
8-9 February 2017, London
BOOK
NOW!
Identifying opportunities & innovating for

the future in anticipation of recovery
Hundreds of industry professionals will converge on London, 8-9 February 2017 for the
Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference, Awards & Exhibition.
Platinum sponsor
Gold sponsors
At the 2016 event, delegates debated commercial, technical, regulatory and operational
issues. The 2017 event will see the industry transitioning to a new phase, with new
preoccupations, challenges and opportunities. The offshore vessel market has been through
tough times, but owners are already focusing on what the market will look like when it picks
up. Identifying opportunities and preparing for a new kind of market will therefore be a key
focus area in 2017: how companies can prepare themselves financially and technically;
how to adjust manpower, manning and training; and where the opportunities will be.
2017 Awards
Silver sponsors
Nominations for the 2017 awards are being shortlisted now.

Voting will open on 5th December at www.osjconference.com/awards
The winner of the Industry
Leader award in 2016:
Dagher Darwish Al Marar,
CEO, ESNAAD
Awards sponsors
Official publication
www.osjconference.com
Organised by
Steven Gray
CEO, ROVOP
n a low oil price environment, innovation can play an

important role in helping to reduce costs and improve
operational efficiency. Doing so is bringing more oil and gas
projects over the economic threshold of viability and also moving
the offshore wind industry nearer the point where it can compete
directly with other power generation options such as nuclear.
Operating in the low oil price environment has been very difficult
for many companies, but not it seems for ROVOP in the UK, which
was founded and is led by chief executive Steven Gray.
ROVOP has chosen to specialise in one part of the offshore
oil and gas industry, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), unlike
other companies where the ROVs are owned by companies that
own or charter vessels. ROV service provision is ROVOPs focus
area, and focusing on service provision has worked very well for
the company.
ROVOPs business model has been to specialise in ROVs
and their operation alone and focus on the important trends in
that segment. Its strategy must be working, because even in the
mother of all depressed markets, it is increasing its workforce in
Houston and recently secured more than US$4 million in contract
wins spanning the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and
Europe. It seems that, in the ROV market at least, specialisation
really is the key to success and really can help drive down costs.
49
50
Tony Trapp
executive chairman, Osbit
espoke is the word that springs to mind when one thinks

about Osbit. It doesnt do anything ordinary. When it says
it will deliver a safe, bespoke equipment solution and do
so on spec, on budget and on time, thats invariably exactly what
it does. Thats how the company, formed by entrepreneur Dr
Tony Trapp, has distinguished itself. We own your problem until
we solve it, listening intently and working passionately with you
to get the job done, says Dr Trapp. We love tackling the most
complex problems head on, by paying attention to the smallest of
details. We offer a fresh approach, one that disrupts a market of
ageing technology. We believe in delivering high quality bespoke
engineering with a flexible service, so whether youre after a
turnkey system, an asset upgrade or another form of support,
well bring it to you.
Mr Trapp is Osbits executive chairman and has a
distinguished track record. He was owner-director of SMD
for 19 years and founded The Engineering Business in 1997.
He founded Osbit in 2010 with two colleagues. A quick look
at some recent projects will give you an idea of the kind of
things it can do. They include two bespoke subsystems for an
autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) operated by subsea
and seabed intervention company Modus, a project that saw
Osbit design and manufacture a floating launch dock and a
sea parking garage to meet Moduss launch and recovery
requirements for its Saab Sabertooth hybrid AUV, a lightweight
underwater platform used for survey, inspection and other light
intervention tasks.
Another recent project saw Osbit deliver well intervention
equipment for Helix Energy Solutions for installation on Helixs
chartered-in vessel Siem Helix 1. The equipment consisted of
a blowout preventer (BOP) maintenance and storage tower,
intervention tension frame (ITF) and moveable deck. The systems
were due to be installed on Siem Helix 1 ahead of the vessel
being deployed in Brazil on a long-term well intervention charter
for Petrobras. A second suite of identical systems will follow later
in the year for Siem Helix 2.
www.osjonline.com
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Offshore Support Journal Industry Leaders 2016

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Offshore Support Journal Industry Leaders 2016

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2016 A supplement to Offshore Support Journal

of the most influential

LEADERS ADAPT FOR

David Foxwell, Editor

his special supplement is dedicated to all of the industry

Editor: David Foxwell

from refinancing in order to bring about a merger with Solstad

Sales: Colin Deed

Executive Editor: Paul Gunton

Head of Sales Asia: Kym Tan

Sales Asia & Middle East: Rigzin Angdu

ISSN 2055-3749 (Print)