Marine logistics company MMA Offshore has secured a three-year contract to charter one of its vessels with a subsidiary of UK-based contractor Subsea 7.
Marine logistics company MMA Offshore has secured a three-year contract to charter one of its vessels with a subsidiary of UK-based contractor Subsea 7.
Under the contract, the MMA Pinnacle will be fitted with equipment from i-Tech Services, which provides life-of-field services to the oil and gas industry, including inspection, maintenance and repair services.
The contract is for an initial firm period of three years with options to extend.
MMA managing director Jeff Weber highlighted the importance of the contract.
“This is a very significant contract for MMA as we look to work with key partners to expand our IMR service offering,” Mr Weber said.
“Subsea 7 is a leading global services contractor to the offshore energy industry with i-Tech Services being an ideal partner to complement the capabilities of the MMA Pinnacle.”
i-Tech Services senior vice-president Steve Wisely praised the new contract.
“This investment to our fleet strengthens our capacity and capability whilst reinforcing our market-leading position as a fully-integrated Life-of-Field partner,” Mr Wisely said.
“It also firmly underlines our commitment to the success and expansion of our business in the Asia Pacific region which is a key strategic growth area for us.”
A research note from Hartleys referenced NYSE-listed offshore vessel company Tidewater as a good indicator of the current market.
“It is clear from both its recently released earnings, conference call transcript and corporate presentation that the offshore market is in the early stages of a recovery and market conditions for the OSV sector have bottomed,” Harlteys said.
“However, the results and commentary also clearly highlight that the speed of the recovery for the sector is going to be slow and it will take a number of years before the market returns to buoyant conditions.
“This is in line with our view on the sector and underpins our continued near-term caution in MMA Offshore.”
Hartleys has a 12-month price target of 20 cents per share.
Shares in MMA finished up 4.4 per cent at 24 cents each today.
