The Havila Charisma vessel. (Photo: Havila Shipping)

Havila Shipping ASA has been awarded three-year contracts for the Havila Charisma and Havila Foresight platform supply vessels. Both contracts include four one-year options and have a total framework of close to NOK 800 million.

The total framework includes options and costs related to Havila Charisma modifications.

“We have received safe and efficient deliveries from Havila Shipping for several years and look forward to continuing our cooperation with the shipping company. Long-term contracts bring predictability to both Equinor and our suppliers, and form the basis of continuous improvement,” says Peggy Krantz-Underland, Equinor’s chief procurement officer.

The vessels are part of a fleet of supply vessels supporting Equinor’s operations on the entire Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Havila Charisma will also be modified to support seismic services in the form of permanent reservoir monitoring. This includes increased accommodation capacity. The vessel’s capacities for supply duties will remain unchanged. Havila Charisma will sail from the supply base in Florø when it is not on seismic assignments.

“The supply vessels along the entire Norwegian coast are the vital nerve of the more than 40 fields we operate on the NCS. By modifying Havila Charisma to provide seismic services in addition to supply services, we are utilizing our scale advantage to achieve higher efficiency and flexibility in our operations,” says Morten Sundt, who is leading Equinor’s supply vessel activities on the NCS.

Havila Foresight has its home base at Equinor’s supply base at Mongstad. With the new contract Havila Foresight will have supplied Equinor’s installations from Mongstad for 15 years.

Both vessels have previously been fitted with a battery and adapted for shore power, which increases safety and reduces CO2 emissions. All vessels on longer-term contracts for Equinor (approx. 20 vessels) have, or will have, a battery and a shore-power system within 2021. The two Havila vessels are among the most fuel-efficient vessels in Equinor’s fleet of supply vessels. Previously the vessels have been modified to ensure safer operations on board, such as heightened cargo rail on Havila Foresight’s loading deck.

FACTS ON EQUINOR’S SUPPLY VESSELS ON THE NCS

• At any time, around 30 supply vessels from a long range of shipping companies are in service to supply Equinor’s installations and rigs. Standby vessels and anchor handling vessels are additional.
• Around 900 people are working on supply vessels in service for Equinor.
• In 2019, the vessels transported almost 1.9 million tonnes of cargo to and from the installations.
• Most of the vessels are on longer-term contracts (3 years +), but there are also several vessels on shorter-term contracts and from the spot market.

KeyFacts Energy: Equinor Norway country profile