The growth in worldwide drilling activity is producing an increase of shipbuilding and ship repair for this year. The forecasting for the offshore industry for the next years is positive too.

The uprising drilling activity along the world is explained for various factor keys:

– the new giant discovery in the North Sea (Aldous and Avaldsnes reserve zones).

– activity in the Gulf of Mexico has also begun to rebound after the Macondo accident.

– the new exploration campaings in deep oil fields mainly in West Africa and Brazil.

The conjunction of these factors has produced growth across all the major drivers of OSV demand. The high average age of some world fleet segments is pulling of the demand too. The shipowners are renewing their fleet and increasing their maintenance budgets.

According to the United Nations in its paper “Review of maritime transport – 2011”, since 2010 to 2011, the OSV world fleet grew an 34% in DWT (from 24.673 to 33.227). For the next years the global demand for OSVs in 2012 is expected to grow.

Market prospects

The current AHTS order book is indicating that 191 units will be delivered in 2012 and 34 units will be delivered in 2013. Experts expect the AHTS fleet will probably grow by close to 6 percent in 2012. The large AHTS fleet (16,000+bhp) is likely to grow more rapidly – closer to 10 percent in 2012 – as there are still a number of large AHTS vessels in the order book for the year ahead.

The current PSV order book is indicating 146 units will be delivered in 2012 and 100 units in 2013. The PSV fleet is therefore expected to grow by 9 percent in 2012.

Video: Njord Viking – AHTS – Viking Supply – Built in Zamakona Shipyard

Sources: www.cleaves.com / www.brs-parts.com / www.platou.com / http://www.un.org/en/