The Norwegian-headquartered offshore and subsea vessel provider DOF Group ASA (DOF) has announced two vessel transactions involving a total of six vessels as part of further fleet optimisation and high-grading efforts to strengthen DOF’s position in the company’s core business areas.
The first transaction is the sale of four platform supply vessels (PSV), while the second transaction is the acquisition of two construction support vessels (CSV) with 250t cranes that are currently under construction. The transactions result in increased earnings capacity and longevity of DOF’s fleet without compromising on the leverage target of 1.5 – 2.0x or short-term shareholder return capacity. Furthermore, DOF has declared a constructive total loss on the anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) Skandi Amazonas following an incident in May. Further details on each event follow below.
The four PSVs Skandi Mongstad (2008-built), Skandi Flora (2009), Skandi Feistein (2011) and Skandi Kvitsøy (2012) have been agreed sold. Expected delivery of the four vessels is during Q3 of 2026. The vessels will continue on their current contracts. DOF will retain management responsibilities of the four vessels and a minority ownership interest in the acquiring entity with the sale generating approximately US$50m in net cash proceeds following repayment of debt related to the vessels.
DOF has furthermore entered into an agreement with a company affiliated with Geveran Trading Company to acquire two CSVs currently under construction. The vessels are based on the SALT 310 OCV design and are being built by PaxOcean in China. Specification highlights include a 250t subsea crane, 1750 square meters of deck space, overall length of 123 meters, breadth of 25 meters and POB capacity of 123. Each vessel will be equipped with two work-class ROVs.
The vessels are expected to be delivered in Q4 2027 and Q1 2028 with 85% of the purchase price will be paid at delivery. The acquisition will be funded through a mix of cash from vessel sales and available debt financing.
Finally, on May 15, 2026, Skandi Amazonas was grounded outside of Macaé, Brazil, following an incident which damaged the hull, resulting in water ingress into the vessel. After a comprehensive effort to assess the overall damage sustained by the vessel, the conclusion is that the potential rebuilding cost exceeds the value for which the vessel is insured under its hull and machinery insurance. DOF has consequently declared a constructive total loss on the vessel, resulting in a hull and machinery insurance payout of US$115m.
“The transactions follow DOF’s strategy of high-grading the fleet across vessel segments. Over the past year, including these transactions, DOF has sold nine vessels that have been of lower capabilities or otherwise not suited DOF’s fleet and acquired four higher end vessels. The higher end vessels provide our subsea regions with a larger fleet to execute projects and earn money on. On a simple PSV we have limited opportunities to make additional returns on top of the vessel’s earnings, while the new CSVs will provide us with additional vessels that are able to generate attractive earnings on their own while also increasing the subsea regions’ earnings capacity with no additional investment. That is really the key to our ongoing fleet high-grading; being able to make more money on a more modern fleet while balancing the net spending and therefore not impacting the short-term shareholder return capacity while increasing the long-term potential of DOF. I am therefore very happy to be able to announce these transactions, and I look forward to welcoming the new vessels to our fleet once construction has been finalised,” said Mons S. Aase, CEO of DOF Group ASA.
