Offshore development driving Optimarin growth

Norway-headquartered Optimarin has signed multiple fleet agreements, including a contract with Island Offshore for 19 systems, doubling its order intake year on year.

“Optimarin has long held the position of the preferred supplier to the offshore segment, so the fact that the industry is recovering – with fewer vessels laid up – is a very positive development for us,” commented Tore Andersen, EVP sales, Optimarin.

“We are naturally delighted to secure the contract to retrofit our simple, reliable and market proven UV systems throughout the remainder of the Island Offshore fleet, having delivered our first unit to this industry leader back in 2013.”

Compliance also a driver

Mr Andersen stressed that the increased order flow is not confined to a single segment. The IMO D2 ballast water compliance deadline, coming into effect on 8 September, is, he said, pushing owners to make decisions on BWT more quickly. Vessel owners are aware there are only a finite number of preferred manufacturers, dry docks and engineering companies for installations and want to avoid order bottlenecks.

“The market is picking up across the board,” Mr Andersen noted. “Both in terms of segments – with recent orders arriving at Optimarin spanning everything from cruise vessels to cement carriers – but also geographically. For example, Greek owners are now contracting an increasing number of retrofits with us (with a significant fleet agreement signed in the past few weeks) while orders with Asian yards, US operators and key Northern European shipowners are very healthy.”