Singapore's BW Offshore has rid itself of a costly veteran floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in a recycling sale.
The 274,000-dwt Berge Helene (built 1976) has gone for $16m, the Oslo-listed company said.
The vessel will be recycled in compliance with Hong Kong Convention rules at Priya Blue shipyard in India.
The 372-metre-long former VLCC was built in France and converted for production work in Singapore in 2005.
The unit has been laid up in Singapore since August 2018, however.
BW Offshore, a spin-off of Singapore's BW Group, said the recycling yard is certified to ISO standards and has been issued with a statement of compliance by Japan's ClassNK.
Grieg Green overseeing the work
Norwegian company Grieg Green will be BW Offshore's representatives on site to monitor progress.
"A recycling plan has been prepared and provided by the yard in corporation with Grieg Green to ensure strict compliance," BW Offshore said.
"To ensure and incentivise safe recycling in this respect, the company will pay a safe recycling bonus upon completion."
The company said earlier this year that it had decided to record an impairment to the book value of the Berge Helene and sister FPSOs BW Cidade de Sao Vicente and Espoir Ivoirien, amounting to $59.6m in the fourth quarter of 2020.
"The impairments reflect continued uncertainty around redeployment and extension for certain older units in the fleet," the company said.
"The uncertainty is tied to market volatility and future development of oil prices, and also considering increased focus on energy transition."
