GEOSHIPS Expands Fleet 

SeaHold GEOSHIPS Ltd, specialists in marine and subsea services, has expanded its fleet with one new multi purpose offshore vessel.

Formed in 2003, North East company SeaHold GEOSHIPS has a forecasted turnover of £17million for the 2012 financial year, with turnover projected to increase to around £120million by 2015 on the back of an eight vessel fleet.

GEOSHIPS now has a team of 13, which includes 5 staff in Ellon following the acquisition of marine management services company Brooklyn Shipping Ltd (BSL) earlier this year.

Plans are in place to recruit at least 5 new employees in the next 6 months.  To meet staffing requirements on-board the expanding fleet, GEOSHIPS and BSL expects to have around 300 personnel, including marine crew, in the next 3 years.

GEOSHIPS is taking 10 year bareboat charters with options to purchase at various dates. The vessel owners are Mokul Nordic Offshore Pte Ltd based in Singapore, a joint venture between Nordic Maritime Pte Ltd of Singapore and MDL Energy Pvt. Ltd of India.

The new vessel, the ‘Loch Roag’ brings the company's fleet up to two with other vessel chartering options being looked into in the upcoming year.

The new vessels, which are both of Vik & Sandvik VS470 design will be delivered in Quarter 1 2012 and Quarter 4 2012 respectively and are actively being promoted to the oil and gas market for long-term work.  Specified as multi-purpose support vessels, they are suitable for work in a variety of areas, including the North Sea, Mediterranean, West Africa and Asia Pacific.

This addition to the fleet reinforces the firm’s continued commitment to provide a growing fleet of quality new vessels to the oil and gas and renewables sectors.

Kenny Macleod, chairman of SeaHold GEOSHIPS, said: “We are delighted to be investing in our own fleet of vessels and this commitment underpins our ambitious growth plans for the next few years.  Our growing fleet enables us to focus more attention on the emerging offshore renewable energy market, as well as improving our ability to support our offshore oil and gas customers.

The first VS470, Loch Erisort, which is of clean and comfort class has an overall length of 74 metres, and is certified to accommodate up to 65 people in one and two man cabins.  The second vessel which is certified to carry 60, is slightly longer at 76m overall.