While ‘big ticket’ projects such as Bayu-Undan, Sunrise and the like – become the staple of the truly global players, who need substantial balance sheets to play in this market - the smaller jobs such as monopod installations, sub sea tiebacks and dive support often provide fertile ground for efficient smaller businesses with lower operating structures than their larger, international competitors.

Investors are being sought by an experienced marine operator to bring what he believes to be a uniquely equipped support/survey vessel into the northern Australian oilfields.Mike Heuston, of Asian Marine Surveys, said in addition to a being a fully equipped seismic acquisition vessel “with all the fruit”, the boat had been refurbished to North Sea standards with hydraulic winches and davits, A-frames and deck extensions to be able to provide dive support, ROV support and cable laying roles. He said the boat, currently in a SE Asian waters, was still under a previous contract and he was unable to reveal the name of the vessel for a few more weeks.

While being equipped with this versatility, Heuston said another of the main drawcards of the vessel was its low running costs, which “equals low day rates for the client”. He was able to scale the ship’s power requirements down dramatically when not requiring the muscle needed for power intensive tasks such as dragging spreads of long seismic streamers into heavy seas..

“At a steady eight knots I can use as little as 1.5 tonnes per day of diesel. Other 200 footers would be be using anywhere up to 8 tonnes per day. It means I can sometimes be as close to half the day rate of similar vessels and provide accommodation for up to 30 people.

“There’s plenty of power. There’s four Mitsubishi 600 horsepower engines with less than 2000 hours run time on them, but when involved with a role like dive or construction support, there’s no need for anything like that sort of power. Take them off-line and down comes the fuel bill dramatically.

German built and Dutch refurbished – North Sea contractors gave the boat an extensive seismic fitout in the nineties – the plant on board is in excellent condition. “One of the air compressors for the seismic guns – there’s three compressors – is only 82 hours old,” said Heuston.

Sources in financial circles said Heuston had a proven record of providing a return for previous investors in his maritime business ventures, although usually they were of a more speculative nature. He spent many years in the salvage business, and has also done the odd spot of treasure hunting.

“I’m looking at a couple of scenarios for investors. Secured by a first mortgage against the boat – there is an independent valuation available by Noble Denton - I’m looking for sophisticated investors who may not have any knowledge of the business but who are looking for a high rate of return. That will be in the order of 20% per annum.

“For someone who is in the industry and who can perhaps take a hands on role, I am happy to look at selling equity in the vessel. At $US3500 per day plus operating costs, a shareholder could earn his buy in back within a couple of years,” said Heuston.

“A vessel like that in these waters, alternating between seismic acquisition and construction and dive support for all the small Apache, OMV, Newfield, TAP-types jobs, is a serious business opportunity,” said Heuston.

Asian Marine Surveys can be reached in Australia on 08 9448 0755. Fax: 08 9448 0456. Email: m.heuston@bigpond.com