Singapore’s Ultra Deep Solutions has announces its fourth long-term charter in as many weeks, sealing a five-year deal to charter dive support construction vessel Andy Warhol.
The vessel is currently under construction at China’s Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding and is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Ultra Deep Solutions did not disclose the identity of the charterer but said the vessel will be operating primarily in the Middle East, India and Far East.
Shel Hutton, CEO of Ultra Deep Solutions, commented: “The Andy Warhol is our fourth ship to be on long term contract. We at UDS have passionately built this vessel from the start for the Middle East and Asian regions. It fits nicely into the market as a very high specification ship. The market has really heated up for the higher end DSCV vessels as of late. Our competitive pricing and low cost fuel consumption ships are having multiple offers on them. Oil and gas companies are looking for high quality assets at competitive prices.
“As we move forward now our long term out look is very positive with oil trading in the $65 to $85 USD market. From here we will be aggressive with our next generation building phase. We look to sign multiple hybrid vessels in the next few months.”
Speaking to Splash, Hutton revealed that the charterer of the vessel was a private shipping company in Asia and faced stiff competition for the vessel, with six companies bidding on the ship
“I see this new wave of companies opening up with no debt and cash in hand. This is a market which we like. All of our contracts have been backed by solid bank guarantees,” Hutton told Splash.
