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Thursday, July 9, 2015

A.P. Møller-Mærsk sells its stake in ESVAGT - specialist for Service Operations Vessels (SOV)

Ships and Sea have attracted mankind from time immemorial – this odd looking vessel kindles some interest.  This is Esvagt Froude and here are some interesting details.

ESVAGT is a Danish shipping company, established in 1981, providing safety and support at sea. The Company specialises in rescue and oil combating preparedness in and around the oil / gas fields and services for offshore wind farms.  Their website states their biggest business area to be the commission of standby / ERRV Duties (Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel). ESVAGT’s fleet  of 43 vessels  provide emergency response services for offshore oil rigs, help clean up oil spills, and assist in moving rigs, tankers and workers to and from offshore oil projects.

Besides a large fleet of vessels, the Danish shipping company proudly possesses two SOV-vessels specially constructed for servicing windfarms. SOV stands for Service Operations Vessel (offshore wind industry). Offshore wind power refers to wind farms in bodies of water to generate electricity from wind. Stronger wind speeds are available offshore compared to on land, so offshore wind power’s contribution in terms of electricity supplied is higher; however offshore wind farms are relatively expensive.

As of 2010 Siemens and Vestas were turbine suppliers for 90% of offshore wind power, while Dong Energy, Vattenfall and E.on were the leading offshore operators.  As of 2013 the 630 megawatt (MW) London Array is the largest offshore wind farm in the world, with the 504 (MW) Greater Gabbardwind farm is the second largest.
 
The green wave has expanded to maritime World as well.  Seeing rich potential in the field of  service to the offshore windfarm industry, ESVAGT modified  their first vessel for that purpose.  Their tailor-made Service Operations Vessels (SOV)are  – “ESVAGT  Froude and Farady.   Both the vessels reportedly have been contracted for Siemens Wind Power.  The German energy company has provisionally  chartered “ESVAGT Froude” for a five year contract  to  service  the field and transport  personnel during the constructing and operation of the offshore windfarm Baltic 2 in the Baltic, and the “ESVAGT Farady” for similar jobs for the Butendiek-project in the northern part of the German sector of the North Sea – provisionally for a 10 year contract.

Today read the news that A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S has sold its majority stake in Esvagt, to two infrastructure investment firms from the U.K. and Australia, for $610 million.The deal is the latest in a series of divestments made by the Danish conglomerate in order to focus on its core businesses of container shipping and oil exploration. Maersk accumulated a 75% stake in the company in the 1990s.

The buyers  are reported to be  3i Infrastructure Plc, a British firm that invests in energy projects across Europe, and AMP Capital, an Australian infrastructure investment fund with $124 billion in assets under management.In 2014 ESVAGT reported a record profit of 252m Danish kroner on a turnover of 943.2m Danish kroner.

Interesting indeed !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

8th July 2015.

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