Sovcomflot Charters Polarcus’ Seismic Vessel
Polarcus’ Norwegian subsidiary has entered into a heads of agreement with SCF Geo (Sovcomflot) to charter a vessel on bareboat terms with delivery scheduled for March, 2017.
The fixed period of the charter will be 5 1/2 years with options to extend for up to four additional months, Polarcus informed.
The vessel will be delivered without streamers and the streamer package currently on board the vessel will be available for use across the Polarcus fleet.
The charter will generate minimum hire of USD 72 million over the fixed charter period with the possibility of increased charter hire fees based on Sovcomflot benefiting from certain market improvements. Sovcomflot will have the right to purchase the vessel at any time during the charter at pre-agreed prices.
The heads of agreement and the charter are subject to the consent of the bank lenders who have mortgagee rights over the vessel. It is also subject to finalizing terms with Sovcomflot.
As Polarcus explained, the terms will be based on a previous agreement between the Polarcus and Sovcomflot which contains amendments and supplemental terms to the industry standard Barecon 2001 form.
Following delivery of the vessel to Sovcomflot, Polarcus will have two vessels on long-term bareboat charter with a total fixed backlog of USD 110 million with no associated operating costs.
In addition, Polarcus operates a fleet of four vessels in the contract market for which the current backlog amounts to USD 115 million. The company also has Polarcus Nadia, currently cold-stacked, which will be considered for re-activation on improved market conditions.
The available excess streamer package will reduce re-activation costs significantly if installed on Polarcus Nadia, the company added.
