MIDDLE EAST • QATAR


Halul offshore vessel tows platform.


assets, Halul Offshore has not been immune to the decline in utilisation, contract renegotiations and rate cuts, but Seth says that the company’s utilisation is comfortably higher than the industry average.


Halul offshore vessel tows platform.


The subject of underutilisation of offshore vessels, combined with a packed order book for 2017 has cast a shadow over the industry in the first half of the year. Estimates suggest there are around 3,500 OSVs in the market globally, of which there is only a demand of less than 2,000, with another 400+ new build vessels that are yet to come online, most of them in 2017.


The most pessimistic estimates are that global utilisation rates could fall to 53% in 2017, although that number is closer to 65-70% in the Middle East.


Halul Offshore on market’s ‘new normal’


Following periods of first denial and then confusion over low oil proces, the offshore marine sector is finally experiencing a period of acceptance and adjusting to the ‘new normal’, believes Halul Offshore Service Company ceo Vivek Seth.


Halul’s chief admits the last 12 months have been ‘tough’, but believes the market has


bottomed out, and likely to stay flat for another 12-18 months. Beyond


Vivek Seth


that will be a ‘defining period for the industry’.


‘In some ways I look at the downturn and the changing market as potentially a positive for the industry,’ Seth says from the company’s Doha base.


‘I think that if we are honest as an industry, there was inefficiency creeping in before the downturn. We have to use this period to improve and make our industry more efficient and proactive.


‘When the market is performing like it Visit: seatrade-maritime.com Seatrade Maritime Review • Quarterly Issue 2 • June 2017 65


was, there can be elements of short- termism when it comes to making important decisions. To survive and eventually thrive over the longer- term companies have to make sustainable decisions.’


Seth says that when it became clear market conditions were turning, Halul consulted its staff over how to make the business perform more efficiently, leading to a number of ‘effective cost optimisation initiatives’.


One area he says can’t be skimped on is safety. ‘Reputation is imperative in the industry,’ says Seth, ‘which is why we are proud of achieving 6m working hours without a major incident’.


As an owner and operator of a fleet of approximately 40 offshore support


While acknowledging the very real challenge – Seth says the ‘numbers can look scary’ – he is pragmatic and believes that the reality will not play out as badly as some of the gloomier predictions.


‘There is going to be a surplus of vessels, but I do not believe we will see some of the numbers that are being quoted,’ he explains.


Elaborating, he says: ‘There are a number of older vessels that have been stacked and will now need to be phased out, while it is also my belief that a number of vessels that only exist on order books will never see the light of day.’


‘In addition, the cyclical nature of the industry means that demand will pick up, with more vessels being employed as a result,’ Seth concludes. ‘When you put all of these factors together, the future post 2018 does not look as bleak as some are suggesting.’ 


Halul operates around 40 offshore vessels


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