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DryShips ventures into offshore with $120m acquisition of six OSVs

Dry bulk shipowner DryShips is spending $120m to venture into offshore shipping by acquiring Nautilus Offshore Services, which indirectly through its subsidiaries own four oil spill recovery vessels (OSRVs) and two PSVs.

Lee Hong Liang, Asia Correspondent

October 23, 2015

1 Min Read
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Athens-based DryShips said the agreement is to acquire approximately 98% stake in Nautilus for a price of $87m plus the assumption of around $33m of net debt.

The purchase price will be partly financed by a new loan facility of $50m provided to DryShips by an entity controlled by George Economou, ceo of DryShips.

The move by Economou for DryShips to buy OSVs came at a time when the offshore market is depressed by low oil prices, as well as the continuing oversupply of offshore vessels, resulting in declining charter rates and reduced utilisation.

The six offshore vessels are currently on time charter to Brazil’s Petrobras through to 2017, and managed by TMS Offshore Services, an entity controlled by Economou.

Ziad Nakhleh, cfo of DryShips, said: “We are very pleased to have agreed to the acquisition of six modern OSVs from clients of TMS Offshore with fixed rate employment that we expect will generate in excess of $20m of EBITDA until the end of 2016.”

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About the Author

Lee Hong Liang

Asia Correspondent

Singapore-based Lee Hong Liang provides a significant boost to daily coverage of the Asian shipping markets, as well as bringing with him an in-depth specialist knowledge of the bunkering markets.

Throughout Hong Liang’s 14-year career as a maritime journalist, he has reported ‘live’ news from conferences, conducted one-on-one interviews with top officials, and had the ability to write hard news and featured stories.

 

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