Energy News January 2008

Regulatory Guidance for Offshore Supply Vessels

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Offshore Supply Vessels have become increasingly sophisticated in response to demands from offshore field operators who are now developing more complex field schemes in deeper waters. Shown here is Rigdon Marine’s Bourbon OSV classed by ABS with notations +A1, Offshore Support Vessel, E, +AMS, +DPS-2.

Rigdon is a leading operator of U.S. Flag and ABS-classed DP-2 supply vessels in the Gulf of Mexico. ABS provides classification services to all major OSV operators.

Offshore supply vessels (OSVs) have become larger and more technologically advanced to meet the demands of complex deepwater field developments. Day rates for all types of OSVs are high, attracting owners to invest in new tonnage or expand their fleets. Analysts forecast the global OSV fleet will continue to rise through to 2020. As of the end of December 2007, 466 offshore supply and support vessels of various types were on order worldwide to ABS class.

OSV design and operation is governed by International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulatory guidelines. Recognizing the growing sophistication of OSVs, ABS presented the paper Offshore Support Vessels-Ripe For An Independent Regulatory Regime at the OSV Singapore 2007 conference jointly organized by RINA, IMarEST and CORE. The paper discusses such topics as OSV stability criteria, cargo tanks and stern tubes.

Other OSV news and regulatory topics are discussed in ABS Develops Crew Habitability Criteria for Offshore Supply Vessels and Reclassification of Chemicals by IMO Impacts Offshore Supply Vessels.

OSVs At-A-Glance

The global fleet of Anchor Handler Tug Supply (AHTS) vessels is predicted to increase 2 percent per year until 2020. The AHTS fleet will grow from a 2007 base of 1,148 vessels to approximately 1,850 ships in 2015 and 2,000 vessels in 2020. The orderbook for anchor handlers is around 221 ships, with Bourbon ordering the most vessels, building 55 at yards around the world
The platform supply vessel (PSV) fleet will see slow steady growth over the next decade. The global fleet is expected to rise from 457 to 760 vessels by 2015, reaching around 840 by 2020. The global orderbook stands at 178 ships, with Bourbon having 40 PSVs on order.
There will be particular growth in demand for PSVs in markets where plenty of platforms are due to be installed, including Asia, West Africa, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico.

(Information source: Ocean Shipping Consultants)