Crew Boat Market Report - February 2016

Marcon presently has the following crew boats, pilot boats and launches officially available for sale, both domestically and abroad. Others can be developed on a private and confidential basis.

Market Overview
Of the 12,982 vessels and 3,821 barges Marcon tracks, 1,137 are crew, fast supply & pilot boats with 219 officially on the market for sale, plus we have 57 boats available for charter worldwide. 35.6% of the boats officially for sale are U.S. flag. 73 crew boats for sale worldwide were built within the last 10 years. 61 boats, or 27.85%, are 25 years of age or older. The oldest boat listed is a 40', 240BHP 1957 built and located in the US Northwest. This vessel is counterbalanced by one foreign-built newbuild 132.1', 5,400BHP crewboat scheduled for delivery in 2016 in the Far East.

Still no relief in the market for crew boats, FSV, and FSIVs. More have come off projects in West Africa and Mexico increasing the number of vessels available for sale and/or charter. Although asking prices remain stable in most cases, buyers at these levels are few and far between given the lack of tenders for new contracts. 2016 will hopefully be a transition year, with oil prices beginning to move a little higher and global E&P spending at least starting to recover in 2017 / 2018. Actual sale prices of all vessels & barges sold by Marcon in 2015 averaged 84.95% of asking prices, compared to 2014's 85.65%. Where vessel location is known, 75 boats for sale are in the U.S., followed by 39 in Southeast Asia, 26 in Europe, 23 in the Mid-East, 16 in Africa, 10 in Latin America, 9 in the Mediterranean, 7 in Southwest Asia, 6 in the Caribbean, 4 in Canada, 2 in the Far East and 1 each in the South Pacific and at an undisclosed location. Of the crew, pilot boats and launches listed for sale, the most popular engine is CAT diesels in 58 of 216 boats where engines are given, followed by 57 GMs, 53 Cummins, 12 MTUs, 10 Volvo/Volvo Pentas, 6 MANs, 4 each MWM and Yanmar powered boats and 12 other types.

 

Marcon Market Comments
As of this writing, oil is flirting with $40/bbl up from the high twenties, but still far from a convincing recovery. Rig counts are at historic lows and still dropping, not even counting the number of offshore rigs expected to be laid-off in Mexico. Every week we have more modern FSV and FSIVs coming available. Many are fully classed boats with DP-1 or DP-2. These are boats that rarely come on the sale and purchase market, but are indicative of just how bad things are. It appears that 2016 will be worse than 2015, but the end of the downturn may be in sight. Given the drastic reduction in active rigs, production will likely take a substantial drop during the next 12 to 18 months. This will hopefully fuel a price recovery that encourages improved E&P budgets in 2017 / 2018. 2016 may be the best year of this downturn to buy modern equipment at what may prove to be bargain price levels. Marcon can develop various sizes of boats for sale on a private and confidential basis - especially if sold out of immediate competition. Please contact us with your requirements.

Commercial Marine Brokers since 1981