Vessel firm’s $700 million takeover targets wind’s ship shortage

Offshore wind vessel operator Cyan Renewables Pte Ltd has acquired an Australian peer for $702 million, in a deal seen addressing a persistent shortage of ships capable of servicing rapidly growing wind farms at sea.

The Singapore-based firm will take over MMA Offshore Ltd.’s fleet of 20 vessels, marking the largest take-private deal in the regional offshore wind energy services industry, according to a statement Thursday.

The transaction comes during a bleak period for the sector, which has been hammered by rising costs, supply chain snarls, and a lack of ships capable of installing and maintaining turbines. 

Globally, offshore wind is set to grow five-fold between 2022 and the middle of the next decade, according to BloombergNEF. Shipping broker Clarksons estimates about $20 billion of investment is needed to build 200 new ships if a global target of installing 30,000 turbines is to be met by 2030.

Without a huge flotilla of service vessels and billions in capital investment, the wind farms will never get built, said James Chern, managing partner and chief investment officer of Seraya Partners, which owns Cyan Renewables.

“That is why we attract a lot of capital to support Cyan, because everybody clearly sees that we are addressing a very big problem,” he said in an interview.