Vallianz Holdings has chalked up another major string of contracts in the Middle East, taking its 2015 order book to over US$1 billion - a record for the fast growing firm.
The latest contracts for Singapore-based Vallianz, which provides offshore support vessels and marine solutions to the oil and gas industry, are valued up to US$458 million to lengthen the charter duration for 19 offshore support vessels (OSV) currently deployed to a customer in the Middle East - thought to be Saudi Aramco.
Vallianz currently has 15 anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels and four platform supply vessels (PSV) supporting the offshore oil and gas operations of the NOC.
With the new time charter contracts, which modify certain terms in Vallianz’s previous contracts with the NOC, these vessels will continue to be deployed to the customer until June 2018, with an option to extend for two more years until June 2020.
Vallianz CEO Ling Yong Wah said: “Being cognizant of the current market situation in the offshore oil and gas industry, we took a proactive approach and engaged our NOC customer to review the Group’s existing vessel charters.
"While charter rates for our vessels in the new contracts have been revised lower by about 10% on average, the adjustment is less than the rate cuts seen in the offshore marine industry.
"More importantly, it has enabled the group to lengthen the charter duration for half of our fleet of owned vessels to year 2020 including options. This further strengthens our relationship with the customer, and also reflects our focus on maintaining a resilient business model for the Group to ride through business cycles.”
Vallianz presently owns a fleet of 39 vessels operating in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin American markets. In addition, the group has a 49%-owned associate company, PT Vallianz Offshore Maritim, which operates another 20 vessels in the cabotage-protected market in Indonesia.
The group is also working to strengthen its position with the NOC customer and has successfully offered it a wider range of value-added, specialized solutions.
In December 2014, Vallianz was awarded a $97 million time charter to supply a customized offshore floating storage and supply vessel to the NOC for up to five years.
Earlier this month, the group secured a time charter worth up to $300 million to supply two self-elevating platforms to support the NOC’s offshore oil production activities for up to seven years.
Ling said: “With the new contracts secured in July this year, our current order book has been boosted to nearly $1 billion, which is a record level in our corporate history and marks a new milestone for the group. It also reflects the group’s ability to overcome the prevailing industry headwinds. Our order book comprises mainly of long term charters that now stretch up to 2022, thereby improving visibility and stability of the group’s future revenue streams.”