Today we’re revisiting our impressive harbour tug tow for Noble Corporation!
#DYK that aside from being a major operator of offshore support vessels, POSH is a Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) licensed harbour tug operator and in fact has the widest tug base coverage in Singapore? Not only that, we have had zero service failures in our 24/7 operations!
In March 2019, our POSH harbour tugs towed the Noble Joe Knight jackup rig from our sister company PaxOcean’s Graha shipyard in Batam to the Sembcorp Marine Integrated yard in Singapore. The Noble Joe Knight is the second jackup rig Noble purchased from PaxOcean.
#offshoremarine #tug #jackuprig #MPA #DYK #throwbackThursday
As a leading offshore marine player, POSH is continually looking to expand its scope of services to meet the dynamic needs of the offshore marine industry. In 2018, we expanded into the subsea space, leveraging off our diversified fleet to provide clients with an integrated suite of subsea services. These include support for subsea Inspection, Maintenance and Repair ("IMR"), and construction and installation works.
Shortly after its establishment, POSH Subsea was awarded its maiden to support the construction and installation works for a pipeline replacement project for a National Oil and Gas company off the west coast of India. The project was supported by PW Natuna - an accommodation barge that was re-purposed into a Dive Support Vessel ("DSV") for the job - and two Anchor Handling Tugs, Maritime Putri and Maritime Putra.
Equipped with advanced saturation ("SAT") and air dive systems as well as a Remote Operated Vehicle ("ROV"), PW Natuna operates as an installation vessel that allows subsea installation works in depths of up to 100 metres. The SAT system allows divers to work for up to 28 days by housing them in chambers pressurised to the depth of the worksite. A separate pressurised chamber is then deployed to transport them to and from the site.
In the first quarter of 2019, we clinched our second contract for POSH Subsea with a leading global integrated oil and gas services company. This contract is for spool installation and pipeline crossing works for a pipeline replacement project off the west coast of India.
As we continue to meet our clients' needs with our quality offerings, we hope that these service contracts are the first of many to come for POSH Subsea.
Dive system providers are developing bespoke solutions for subsea vessel owners
Looking to offer integrated diving solutions on its vessels, Singapore-based POSH Subsea inked a deal in January with Unique Group to design, manufacture and deliver classed air and saturation dive systems.
Over the next two years, Unique Group will supply classed air and saturation diving equipment, compliant to the stringent Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) 468 and International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) guidelines, as well as consumables and technical support during and post installation.
POSH Subsea, a unit of PACC Offshore Services Holdings Ltd, operates specialised vessels capable of supporting subsea inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM), construction and installation.
To minimise operational downtime, Unique Group is supporting the contract with its Unique Equipment Manager (UEM), a digitalised planned maintenance system that integrates with the dive systems to enable POSH to track the condition of the equipment more accurately.
Subsequent to its contract with POSH Subsea, Unique Group secured an order from Kazakhstan-based subsea services provider FSDS Group for a bespoke air dive systems. In June, Unique Group’s Diving & Life Support division in Sharjah delivered such a system in eight weeks.
ABS classed and built to IMCA guidelines, the diving system comprises a dive control station, diver decompression chamber, diver monitoring and life support, air storage, high- and low-pressure compressors and main diver and standby diver hot water machines.
FSDS Group chief executive Matt Richards, said: “Our technical team worked rigorously with the engineering team at Unique Group to ensure that the system was designed to our specific requirements.”
UK-based JFD, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, was similarly challenged in September with an order to deliver saturation diving products rated to a depth of 500 m. JFD designed and delivered the new products as part of a saturation diving system for a leading offshore service provider.
For the contract JFD developed new environmental control systems, gas reclaim and life support products that provide saturation dive capability. To meet the requirement for 500 m-rated products, JFD updated its existing technology to provide greater performance capacity, as well as developing entirely new products, all of which had to be verified and proven at this lower operational depth. The new technology utilised by JFD has enabled products to be designed that are able to cope with increased pressure, increased ability to heat and which cool the divers’ living environment; they also offer increased transfer of gas and fluids at extreme operational depths.
JFD has previously modified its range of equipment to meet customer requirements. In 2014, as part of a saturation diving system built for the Russian Navy to support submarine rescue operations, JFD’s saturation diving products were enhanced for 450msw operation and incorporated within the diving vessel Igor Belousov.
Singapore OSV owner sees growth opportunities amid encouraging signs in renewables, subsea and offshore construction sectors
One of the largest OSV owners in Asia, Singapore-based PACC Offshore Services Holdings Ltd (POSH) was founded in 2006 as a member of the Kuok Group, which is controlled by Robert Kuok, Malaysia’s wealthiest man, according to Forbes. The Kuok Group has interests in maritime, hospitality, real estate, agriculture and logistics companies. Among the Kuok Group’s well-known brands is the Shangri-la Hotels.
Besides POSH, maritime interests held by the Kuok Group include PaxOcean, a shipbuilder and repairer with facilities in Singapore, Indonesia and China and Pacific Carriers Limited, a Singapore-based dry bulk carrier, tanker and container ship owner.
PaxOcean’s six facilities build and repair a wide range of commercial vessels. In April, PaxOcean Shipyard Singapore delivered the Giovanni Venturi, a former anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel built for Bourbon Offshore, that was converted into a water injection dredger (WIDs), for Dutch owner Jan De Nul. PaxOcean is converting two other former Bourbon OSVs into WIDs for Jan De Nul.
Newly appointed CEO
POSH will now be steered by its former deputy chief executive, Keng Lin Lee, who assumed the role of chief executive and joined the board as executive director on 1 May. Mr Lee has been an integral member of the POSH management team since joining the group in 2007. He has more than 10 years of experience in the offshore marine industry and was part of the team that led the acquisition of PSA Marine's offshore business in 2007. He has been instrumental in the development and operations of various joint ventures and new business divisions.
Keng Lin Lee (POSH): “We will innovate and adapt our strengths to meet the evolving needs of our clients, capturing more opportunities”
Prior to joining POSH, Mr Lee was employed by PSA International as its corporate and business development manager, where he was responsible for business development and charters of harbour tugs and OSVs.
Mr Lee is expected to continue to explore options to expand services in subsea and renewables, drive operational efficiencies, build closer to clients and optimise POSH’s asset portfolio.
“We are encouraged that our new businesses – subsea and renewables – are already gaining traction,” says Mr Lee. “We will now further expand our offerings in these growth areas. We will also innovate and adapt our strengths to meet the evolving needs of our clients, capturing more opportunities.”
Offshore projects that were sanctioned in previous years are gradually coming onstream, says POSH, resulting in a slight uptick in offshore construction activities. At the same time, the attrition of older vessels is expected to ease vessel oversupply slightly in the short- to mid-term.
In the longer term, developments such as shale technology and the global transition towards greener energy sources constitute a structural shift in the oil and gas industry. While oil and gas are expected to remain as the dominant energy source, the share of energy contribution by renewables is projected to see a substantive increase globally. This transition could present both current and future growth opportunities for POSH.
Better OSV revenues, utilisation
Publicly traded on the Singapore Exchange since 2014, POSH reported a 12% decline in revenue year-on-year to US$61.8M for the three months ended 31 March 2019, despite posting higher revenue from its OSV business and slightly better vessel utilisation (70 to 68%). POSH attributes the lower revenues to an under-performing offshore accommodation segment, which saw its revenues dip 39% from the previous year to US$23.8M. As a result, POSH reported a lower gross profit of US$6.8M for the quarter.
“We expect charter rates and utilisation to improve slightly for the OSV segment as offshore projects that were sanctioned in previous years materialise”
POSH says the lower revenue was largely due to POSH Arcadia – one of the group’s two semi-submersible accommodation vessels (SSAV) – being tied up for the quarter. Correspondingly, gross profit declined 47% to US$5.0M.
However, POSH expects improved results for its offshore accommodation segment during the remainder of the year. “We expect sustained improvement for utilisation and charter rates for the [offshore accommodation] monohull segment for the rest of FY2019,” said the company in a statement.
POSH Arcadia and its sister POSH Xanadu were both built by PaxOcean Engineering Zhoushan Co Ltd, in China as dynamic positioning class 3 -apable floatel vessels with accommodation for 750. Complying to DNV GL comfort class, each SSAV has offices and a conference room for clients, gymnasium and sports room, library, cinema, and lounges. On the aft deck, one Liebherr 100t crane is located starboard and one Liebherr 150t crane located on port to support light construction activities.
For station-keeping and propulsion, each SSAV is fitted with Brunvoll nine thrusters, including two 2,038 kW azimuthing stern drive units, five 2,400 kW retractable units and two 2,400 kW bow tunnel thrusters. Ship-shaped, the SSAVs have a maximum transit speed of 11 knots.
In January, POSH Xanadu began an eight-month charter with Brazil oil giant Petrobras in offshore Brazil. Petrobras has an option to extend the charter by an additional eight months. Additionally, all four of POSH’s light construction vessels (LCVs) and three multi-purpose support vessels (MPSVs) were deployed during the quarter.
In 2018, POSH Xanadu and POSH Arcadia achieved near 100% utilisation and gangway uptime. POSH Xanadu supported Chevron’s Big Foot tension leg platform (TLP) in the US Gulf of Mexico, while POSH Arcadia was charted for Shell’s Prelude, the world’s largest floating LNG (FLNG) located in the Browse Basin off of Australia.
Aside from the two SSAVs, all monohull vessels in the offshore accommodation fleet were deployed in Q1 2019, with improved charter rates, POSH reports. In Q4 2018, seven of its accommodation vessels had secured walk-to-work (W2W) charters to support offshore maintenance work, experiencing a 90% utilisation rate. POSH has a fleet of 12 offshore accommodation vessels, along with 42 OSVs, 31 harbour services and emergency response vessels and 38 transportation and installation vessels.
Results from the company’s joint ventures also slide to a loss of US$1.6M compared to a profit of US$0.6M in Q1 2018. This was due to lower vessel utilisation for its offshore marine service contractor joint venture, POSH Terasea.
POSH Terasea has a fleet of high bollard pull ocean tugs to provide towage and mooring installation of floating production storage and offloading (FPSOs) vessels, floating production systems and semi-submersibles. In 2016, POSH Terasea delivered one of the world’s largest FPSOs, Glen Lyon, from Ulsan, South Korea to Haugesund, Norway.
POSH’s partners in the joint venture are Singapore-listed liftboat and tug owner Ezion Holdings Ltd and heavy-lift cargo transportation company, Seabridge Marine Services Ltd.
Boost from renewables and subsea
POSH did see positive results from its new business segments established in 2018. Following its initial success in securing a subsea umbilicals risers and flowlines (SURF) contract last year, the company’s subsea solutions arm, POSH Subsea, clinched its second contract in Q1 2019 to support a pipeline replacement project off the coast of India.
In the renewables sector, POSH Kerry Renewables, a joint venture with Kerry TJ Logistics, added to its orderbook several contracts to support offshore survey and preparatory works for offshore windfarm construction in Taiwan.
“Moving forward, we expect charter rates and utilisation to improve slightly for the OSV segment as offshore projects that were sanctioned in previous years materialise,” says POSH in a statement. The 13 vessels under long-term charters to a national oil company in the Middle East experienced a 97% utilisation rate. POSH also refitted two OSVs for walk-to-work and subsea support operations, as part of its ongoing strategy to re-profile assets to serve growth segments.
Our Multi-Purpose Support Vessel, POSH Mallard, who was recently working in Offshore Thailand supporting our client with #diving and #rov work. What a beautiful sight!
POSH Endurance, our 238-pax DP-2 diesel electric accommodation vessel, currently out at anchorage preparing for her upcoming Long Term Charter (LTC) in Brunei. She will be supporting a rejuvenation project on several different platforms, along with providing topside maintenance and repair and walk-to-work support. A sight to behold indeed!
