J. Lauritzen in new offshore joint venture

SHIPPING: J. Lauritzen A/S, one of Denmark’s leading shipping companies, has formed a 50/50 joint venture with HitecVision, the Norwegian-based leading oil and gas focused private equity investor.

“It has been a long-term strategy for J. Lauritzen to further develop our offshore activities, in particular in the ASV segment, with the right partner and therefore we are very pleased to team up with HitecVision, a company with industry knowledge and high performance standards. We could not have found a better partner”, says Torben Janholt, president & CEO of J. Lauritzen A/S.

The platform of the joint venture will comprise J. Lauritzen’s Accommodation and Support Vessel (ASV) Dan Swift. The vessel was delivered in December 2009 and has since then successfully operated for Statoil and Shell and is presently on long-term contract to the Brazilian oil major Petrobras.

“We are impressed by the development of Lauritzen Offshore and are pleased to have been entrusted by J. Lauritzen to become joint owner of the company”, says Ole Ertvaag, CEO of HitecVision.

“We have monitored this segment for a considerable period of time and believe Lauritzen Offshore has great future potential. We look forward to working with the company’s management to develop it further.”

With the combined operational and technical expertise shared between Lauritzen Offshore and HitecVision, the joint venture will focus on ordering high-end semi-submersible ASVs capable of also serving customers in the North Sea.

The joint venture will be headed by Jesper Kragh Andresen, currently president of Lauritzen Offshore. Key managerial and technical staff from Lauritzen Offshore’s present offices in Singapore, Copenhagen and Rio de Janeiro will transfer to the new joint venture.

Source: J. Lauritzen