Page 14: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2026)

13 15

MARKETS OSVs © Arild / Adobe Stock

Since then, the spot market has remained volatile, but able tonnage to drive the dayrate above NOK 3,000,000. extremely strong compared to historical levels. In January, In 2025, the average utilization level in the North Sea the average rate in the UK was at GBP 100,000, increas- was around 60%. However, even with a reduced sup- ing to GBP 108,000 in February. Since then, the average ply side, the utilization level softened in Q1 down to dayrate has stabilized at roughly GBP 75,000. only 53%, highly impacted by harsh weather in Febru-

The same trend is clearly evident at the NCS, where the ary and March.

year 2024 only saw two months with an average dayrate While dayrate momentum is clear, the current market above NOK 800,000. In 2025, the number of months fundamentals still do not support the current newbuild above this threshold rose to six months. So far in 2026, prices. Consequently, we believe that it is likely that the every month has averaged above NOK 1,000,000. In fact, supply side will be squeezed even more going forward. the past seven months have all exceeded this dayrate level. High maintenance CAPEX, rising OPEX and low utiliza-

Furthermore, we are seeing seasonal project fxtures for the tion for some of the ageing tonnage could see a few vessels largest units currently trading above NOK 1,000,000. retired, placed in cold stacked or sold out of the commer-

Despite record-high dayrates however, utilization lev- cial market, which would beneft the active feet. els are still lagging to a degree as most Owners prioritize And while we expect the market to push the previ- price over utilization. In fact, several shipowners seem to ous commercial age limitations, we are starting to see a intentionally avoid some of the requirements to capture growing number of breakdowns and a higher number of the upside premium of being the only Owner with avail- maintenance days for the older units, which is effectively 14 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM