An Armada of Offshore Support Vessels

Norwegian petroleum and natural gas exports today account for over half of their total export earnings and are worth in excess of 1,500 million kroner per year. The output of natural gas in particular is growing at an annual rate of 15% with the majority exported to the United Kingdom and Holland. This offshore deep water industry dominates their national economy, supervised by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The Ulsteinvik shipyards near Alesund in Norway of Ulstein Verft A/S and Kleven Verft A/S have built more than three hundred offshore support vessels of all types during the last forty years for the offshore oil industry. An equal number of offshore support vessels have been built during the same period by yards in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia and the Far East. There are, or have been, a multitude of Norwegian offshore support vessel operators, including Eidesvik Offshore, Fugro Offshore, DOF Offshore, Solstad Offshore, Farstad Offshore, Havila Offshore, Gulf Offshore Norge, TFDS Offshore and BOA Offshore.