In , the Danish shipping giant, with rather poor timing, decided that it would exit oil and gas operations. These were eventually bought by Noble Corporation in However, efforts to sell Maersk Supply Service and its shrinking fleet of mainly large anchor handlers and subsea vessels failed several times.
Moller Holding, the unlisted holding company set up by the Maersk family and owned by the A. The year saw Maersk Supply shed six vessels, including a number of laid up anchor handlers in the North Sea. Now, the transformational journey has come to an end. Maersk retained these, presumably on account of anti-trust considerations, as DOF already operates 22 vessels in Brazil, and has been disposing of its own aged PSVs.
The deal catapults DOF ahead of its nearest rival, recently restructured Solstad, which operates just 24 subsea vessels and 16 anchor handlers.
The combined Maersk Supply and DOF will now own and manage a fleet of 65 vessels, including 25 anchor handlers and 33 subsea vessels. Sea1 Offshore owns only two subsea vessels and six anchor handlers, whilst Bourbon Subsea has ten subsea vessels in service, mostly smaller than the combined DOF โ Maersk fleet.
This is an impressive consolidation that should give the combined company vastly improved pricing power. It is a leaf straight out of the Tidewater book โ consolidate the global fleet in an offshore segment, and jack up the prices before the clock strikes midnight. DOF relisted in only June after a painful and bitterly contested restructuring, which saw the previous shareholders wiped out and creditors seize control of the company amid lawsuits, challenges to the board, and angry public meetings.
