Page 13: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2026)

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MARKETS OSVs ocusing on larger units above 200t BP, the global dominantly been deployed domestically in China within feet consists of less than 10% of the total feet O&G and the offshore wind segment. with roughly 150 units in this category. Roughly

F Brazil, Subsea Work and Ofshore Wind Drive one third of these units are in South America,

Demand Growth particularly Brazil, while close to 20% are stationed in the North Sea. Another important demand driver for the overall high-

Age-wise, more than 60% of this feet is 15 years or end AHTS market has been the growing rig and FPSO older, with no vessels in this category in the current or- activity in South America, particularly Brazil, which derbook. However, there is a tender in Brazil for building has absorbed a large amount of North Sea tonnage on

AHTS tonnage with WROV against a long-term contract. healthy long-term contracts. Last year alone, there were

As a result of the reduction in the supply side seen in recent six high-end AHTS vessels fxed on such long-term con- years, and an increasing demand in several key regions, tracts in Brazil, which has thus reduced the supply side upward pressure on dayrates has now been evident in the in the North Sea. Furthermore, regions such as Australia

North Sea spot market, as well as long-term contracts in and the Canadian East Coast have continued to absorb

Brazil and Australia. North Sea tonnage.

Moreover, we are starting to see more high-end AHTS

Aging Fleet and Limited Newbuild Activity vessels deployed with crane and WROV capacity, achiev-

Tighten Supply ing signifcant contracts with high dayrate coupled with

In contrast to most other OSV-segments such as Sub- longer contract durations than typically achieved in the sea, PSV, and C/SOVs, where there has been a signifcant spot market. This has effectively reduced available supply uptick in newbuilding activity since 2022, the current for the remaining vessels in the North Sea and also cre-

AHTS market conditions does not justify new high-end ates an incentive for shipowners to invest in additional

AHTS vessels, mostly due to the price of the high speci- equipment such as the aforementioned. For instance, Vi- fcation equipment. king Supply ordered four 100t AHC subsea cranes for in-

In fact, for this segment in particular, the challenge on stallation across its feet, which is planned to be installed the choice of equipment is compounded by the fact that in 2026. many high-end AHTS are effectively “hybrid” designs. Beyond traditional work scopes such as rig moves, pre-

While they can be deployed across both oil & gas and off- lay, heading control, and ROV operations, demand from shore wind markets, the required equipment confguration subsea EPC contractors has continued to strengthen ma- differs materially between the two segments. This creates terially. Several of the contractors such as TechnipFMC, additional uncertainty for Owners at the ordering stage, Saipem, and Subsea 7 have increasingly chartered high- both in terms of upfront capital expenditure and future end AHTS vessels for EPCI campaigns. utilization, further undermining the inherent commercial With a growing subsea project pipeline, this trend is risks for new high-end AHTS newbuilds. expected to be a material part of the demand driver mov-

Furthermore, following the OSV downturn, the market ing forward. Additional workscopes that have booked remained weak for several years, driven by a large overhang up AHTS tonnage in the last summer seasons have been of tonnage ordered in the latter part of the last upcycle, foating offshore wind, trenching for offshore wind and combined with effciency gains from O&G charterers. At bundle towing. the same time, escalating equipment and building costs, In sum, the increasing demand shift to subsea contrac- coupled with fewer long-term contracts, have reduced tors, coupled with reduced supply and regional vessel fow building activity drastically. out of the North Sea, have driven a notable improvement

In the period from 2016 to 2021, above 20 vessels sur- in North Sea dayrates. In the UKCS, only two months in passing 200t BP were either scrapped, retired or converted 2024 recorded average spot rates above GBP 60,000. In for government use, primarily vessels built in the late 1990s 2025, this increased to four months, three of which oc- and early 2000s. In parallel, several high-end tonnage have curred in Q4 after several AHTS vessels had left the North been sold to Chinese operators, where the vessels have pre- Sea for healthy long-term contracts in Brazil.

MARCH/APRIL 2026 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 13