Topaz Energy and Marine acquires new vessels
By Aynur Jafarova
Topaz Energy and Marine Company has purchased two large and modern Anchor Handling Towage and Supply Vessels (AHTSV) at $100 million, the company said on January 22.
Topaz is a leading offshore support vessel company with primary operations in the Middle East and the Caspian Seas region,
The Caspian Challenger and the Caspian Endeavour vessels are sister vessels built by Kleven Maritime in Norway in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Both of them are wholly capable of deep-water work.
The vessels have been operating as part of Topaz's Caspian fleet on a bareboat agreement and are currently serving a long-term contract with BP in Azerbaijan.
They are supporting operations in the giant Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (AGC) block of oil and gas fields and the second phase of development of the giant Shah Deniz gas condensate field performing specialty project work, major rig moves, anchor repositioning and logistical support.
Topaz's fleet size in the Azerbaijani waters of the Caspian is currently 25 vessels. This will rise to 26 when the 4,000 DWT Platform Supply Vessel 'Caspian Voyager' joins the fleet in the second quarter of 2014.
Topaz has been operating in the Caspian since its acquisition of BUE Marine in 2005 and has unrivalled experience of operating offshore support vessels for some of the world's leading energy companies in the Caspian Sea.
Headquartered in Dubai with 40 years of experience in the Middle East, Topaz operates a fleet of more than 90 offshore support vessels of an average age of 7 years.
Topaz is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renaissance Services SAOG, a publicly traded company on the Muscat Securities Market, Oman.