C type vessels fulfill a need

Status: ESVAGT has taken delivery of its last ship for now from the ASL Shipyard in Singapore.

“It was a really good vessel design that fulfilled a need and brought us growth both in the Danish, Norwegian and English markets”.

This is how Head of Commercial for ESVAGT, Ib Hansen, describes the series of 16 vessels in all that ESVAGT has taken delivery of from the ASL Shipyard in Singapore since 2007. The “Esvagt Carpathia” was the first and the “Esvagt Cantana”, for now, the last.

ESVAGT had eight group 3 vessels in 1998 as well as the “Esvagt Omega”, “Esvagt Gamma” and “Esvagt Dana”. In 2002, the “Esvagt Kappa” and “Esvagt Sigma” joined the fleet and met the English and Norwegian requirements for standby service, for example for leak stability and a cruising speed of at least 12 knots.

“The two vessels lead the way in the Norwegian market and prepared the ground for us to examine the market for similar vessels. We bought two at first, the “Esvagt Corona” and the “Esvagt Capella”, from Zamakona in Spain in 2004 and they worked well. Then we decided to build three more at the ASL in Singapore in 2007. All three were linked to the Norwegian market before delivery,” says Ib Hansen.

Organic growth

The builds came as the market changed - in the Norwegian market in particular. Many of the major operators chose to sell out their small fields and small licences. This lead to demand from many small operators that needed a drilling rig, standby or supply:

“The market went through a change that was ideal for us. We could grow organically and both gain market share from existing competitors and step in as new operators appeared. There were growth tendencies in the Danish, Norwegian and English markets and the time for re-fitted fishing vessels was over. We could offer an alternative in the form of simple yet modern vessels that were easy to adapt to customer needs, that were priced competitively and were approved for standby service in the entire North Sea,” says Ib Hansen.

He feels that vessels like the ESVAGT C type helped to change the market and continue to do so.

“There are still 40 -50 vessels in the English sector alone that need replacing in the near future. That is where the market is now – old vessels that need replacing,” says Ib Hansen.

The recipe for a hit:

The C type vessels have been popular with customers from the very beginning. For this reason – and to keep prices at an attractive level – the vessels have barely changed from the “Esvagt Carpathia” in 2007 to the “Esvagt Cantana” in 2015:

“The vessels have had a really good price to quality ratio and given us good opportunities for entering the market for standby services,” says Kristian Ole Jakobsen, Chief Operating Officer for ESVAGT.

Vessel design has changed slightly along the way. Two vessels, the “Esvagt Caroline” and the “Esvagt Contender”, are equipped for firefighting and four vessels have de-icing specifications that allow them to operate in icy areas. Technically, the vessels are also different, most clearly in terms of fuel consumption.

”Put simply, the first eight vessels were designed with less focus on energy optimisation compared to the last eight. This reflects the development and focus on fuel efficiency that the market has experienced,” says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.