Ageing supply vessels to be sold

Ray Smuts TWO YEARS is by no means a record stay for ships in Cape Town but four ageing blue and white anchor handling supply vessels, a familiar sight to thousands of tourists flocking to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, have achieved just that. The four, Champion, Searcher, Achiever and Navigator, are all around 8 000BHP and were once owned by R&B Falcon Drilling of Houston. The company was subsequently bought by Transocean Sedco Forex also of Houston which has now decided to dispose of them. Ron Caris, director of RNC Ships Agency Services representing the management company acting on behalf of the owner-to-be, told FTW that as soon as the sale was concluded the vessels would have to be reactivated and put back in class. "They have been well laid up", he added. The expected purchase price is not known but Caris recalls that R&B Falcon had at one stage asked between US$10 and 12 million for the four.