Mitsui to make entry into subsea support vessel business through acquisition of shares in AKOFS Offshore
Mitsui & Co., Ltd., together with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., has concluded a share purchase agreement with Akastor ASA to acquire a stake in AKOFS Offshore AS, which is affiliated with Aker Group, a major Norway-based company in the offshore oil and gas industry, the company said in its press release. As a result, Mitsui and MOL will hold 25% stakes in AKOFS, respectively. Mitsui's total investment will amount to approximately 8 billion yen, in addition to the contribution in-kind of the vessel owning and leasing company that has been jointly operated by Mitsui, MOL, and AKOFS since November 2016.
AKOFS operates three subsea support vessels, which engage in installation of the subsea facilities that are essential for subsea oil and gas production, as well as subsea well intervention and completion. All of those vessels are capable of operating in waters up to a depth of over 2,000 meters, of which two vessels (including Skandi Santos) have been chartered by Petrobras, a Brazilian state-run oil company, and one vessel is slated to be chartered by Equinor Energy AS (former Statoil Petroleum AS).
With the growing global need for a reduction in oil and gas development and production costs, Mitsui will contribute to reducing such costs by realizing highly efficient operations with the subsea support vessels. In this regard, Mitsui has agreed with Aker Group and MOL to pursue opportunities for further expanded collaboration from a long-term perspective.
Mitsui has positioned the machinery and infrastructure area as one of its core business areas, aiming to establish a robust earnings platform. In the offshore energy field, in addition to the existing floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) business and drillship business, Mitsui has designated the subsea-related business as a new priority area. Envisioning its future contribution to resource development in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Mitsui will further promote offshore-related business.
