Page 17: of Marine News Magazine (November 2026)

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with charterers will have ample choice from existing tonnage and newbuilds.

As an example, Østensjø Rederi has now launched the 120-meter Ocean

Energy Support Vessel built at Gondan in Spain, with delivery scheduled for late 2027 following out? tting and sea trials. The vessel is designed for a com- bination of walk-to-work and CSOV support, offshore construction, subsea installation, ROV work, as well as cable laying and repair, with 1,400 m² deck space and accommodation for 173 people onboard. While the contract value has not been publicly disclosed, a European built vessel with this level of speci? cations comes at a premium.

Other owners with uncommitted 250-tonne units scheduled for deliv- ery between Q4 2026 and Q2 2027 include Rem Offshore, Island Offshore and Sea1. Given the current scarcity of active long-term requirements from the major EPCs, we expect owners to show greater commercial ? exibility to secure contract coverage ahead of deliv- ery. This trend is already evident in the 150-and 250-tonne segments, where time-charter rates for the latest long- term ? xtures have softened from the peaks recorded in 2024 and 2025. We also expect an increasingly notable rate differential between owners capable of delivering integrated scopes, including

ROV and engineering services, and those providing vessel capacity alone.

These market dynamics could shift relatively quickly in owners’ favour, as only a limited number of long-term requirements would be needed to ab- sorb a meaningful share of the specula- tive orderbook. Given the record EPC backlog and the underlying pipeline of subsea opportunities, we would not be surprised to see vessel contracting ac- tivity increase over the medium term.

However, while active requirements remain limited and the ? eet continues to expand, we expect near-term upside in charter rates to remain constrained.

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