Farstad Shipping ASA, Aker Capital AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aker ASA, Hemen Holding Limited, as well as Farstad Shipping's senior lenders, substantial parts of its bondholders, and F-Shiplease AS (a subsidiary of Ocean Yield ASA), have entered into an agreement for a fully-funded financial restructuring of Farstad Shipping, the company said in its press release.
Furthermore, the parties to the Restructuring Agreement, together with Soff Invest AS and Ivan II AS and Tyrholm & Farstad AS, have agreed to work for a combination of Solstad Offshore ASA, Farstad Shipping and Deep Sea Supply Plc following completion of the Farstad Restructuring, creating a world class OSV company.
As repeatedly expressed by a range of industry experts, the fragmented Norwegian OSV industry requires consolidation. By agreeing to complete the Farstad Restructuring and to work for the proposed combination, senior lenders, bondholders and long-standing family owners supported by industrial investors are making a collective effort to secure a successful refinancing of Farstad Shipping and to create a new and robust OSV company operating out of Norway in the high-end segments of the global OSV industry.
A successful completion of the combination will create the largest company in the high-end global offshore supply vessel industry with a fleet of 154 vessels. When including all vessel classes and lower spec vessels, the company ranks fourth globally. The company will operate a fleet of 33 CSV, 66 PSV and 55 AHTS vessels deployed globally in all deep water hubs.