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ESVAGT
DenmarkEnergy
Overview
Headquartered in Esbjerg, Denmark, ESVAGT is the market leader in the fast-growing segment of service operation vessels (“SOV”) for the offshore wind industry. The Company is also a leading provider of emergency rescue and response vessels (“ERRV”) and related services to the offshore energy industry in and around the North Sea and the Barents Sea.
ESVAGT is the pioneer and market leader in the provision of SOVs to offshore wind farms, with nine bespoke vessels in operation and a further four under construction. SOVs are purpose-built, high performance vessels, providing efficient transport of maintenance technicians to wind turbines and other offshore wind equipment, under long term contracts. The offshore wind market, and hence demand for SOVs, is expected to grow strongly over the coming years, creating significant opportunities for the company.
Its ERRV services mainly involve the rescue and recovery of personnel, but also include the dispersion and recovery of oil spills, crew transfers and towing. ESVAGT is the leading provider of ERRV services in Denmark and Norway, with market shares of approximately 100% and 50%, respectively, as well as an established and growing presence in the UK. The majority of ESVAGT’s ERRV revenues are associated with North Sea oil and gas production support, with the remainder generated by supporting exploration activity.
ESVAGT has been operating since 1981, employs over 1,100 people and owns a fleet of more than 43 vessels.
Recent developments
ESVAGT performed well in the year, benefitting from strong contract rates and high utilisation levels. As the clear market leader in European offshore wind SOV provision, ESVAGT currently operates nine vessels. A further four SOVs are under construction, specifically designed to serve long-term charter agreements, and construction progress is on track. Despite inflationary pressure causing delays and cancellations in wind farm development, regulators and governments have become more supportive of incentivising growth in offshore wind.
Inflation, while negatively impacting the construction cost of the near-term pipeline, has a positive effect on ESVAGT due to its index-linked contracts, which enhance the value of its operational SOV fleet. The offshore wind market remains on a positive trajectory and this is reflected in the pipeline for additional new SOVs in the
North Sea and the rapidly expanding US wind market. Over the next 12 months, we anticipate several tenders to take place.
ESVAGT’s ERRV segment also maintained positive momentum, driven by favourable supply/demand dynamics, and an increased emphasis on security of supply in Europe.
Investment rationale
3i Infrastructure acquired ESVAGT from AP Møller-Maersk and other minority shareholders in September 2015, in a consortium with AMP Capital.
ESVAGT has strong infrastructure characteristics and operates in an attractive market:
- It is a market leader in Denmark and Norway and has a small but growing presence in the UK offshore oil and gas market and in the expanding North Sea offshore wind sector.
- It is an asset intensive business, with a modern state-of-the-art fleet of purpose-built vessels.
- A high proportion of its revenues is contracted over the medium term with a diverse customer base featuring limited customer concentration, underpinning stable and predictable cash flows.
- It provides an essential service for the offshore energy industry in light of regulatory health and safety requirements, which constitutes a small component of the overall production cost, resulting in lower price sensitivity;
- It operates in a market with high barriers to entry, as customers require bespoke vessels, manned by experienced crews with a strong safety track record. The harsh weather conditions and language barriers also inhibit new market entrants based outside the region; and
- With its leading market position, strong safety track record and state-of-the-art fleet, ESVAGT is optimally positioned to exploit growth opportunities in the UK and potentially further afield, as well as in the offshore wind energy market.
Sustainability
ESVAGT now has over 60% of its contracted EBITDA serving the Wind sector, up from 25% at the time of acquisition. ESVAGT’s US joint venture, CREST, co-owned with Crowley, won its first contract in the US offshore wind market in early 2023 for Siemens Gamesa. In FY24, ESVAGT won two additional SOV contracts with Ørsted and Vestas in the North Sea. ESVAGT also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with KMC Line, a Korean shipping company, to establish a joint venture in South Korea and enter the South Korean wind market.
Key facts>43 vessels in the fleet>1,100 employees14 years average SOV contract length
