Ezion's fleet balloons 233% to 20 vessels

Versus mid-2011's 6 vessel count.

According to UOB, Fleet currently stands at 20, up from 6 in mid-11. Including a sale & leaseback vessel to Pertamina, Ezion’s fleet has 20 vessels comprising 8 liftboats and 12 service rigs.

Of these vessels, 14 will be delivered between 4Q12 and 2014. Management said Ezion’s revenue and earnings mix will change rapidly as more liftboats and service rigs come on stream.

As of Jun 12, 55% of Ezion’s revenue and 55% of its earnings came from its marine logistics business in Australia, while 45% of its revenue and 55% of earnings came from its fleet of liftboats and service rigs.

Here's more from UOB:

Liftboats and service rigs are gaining increasing acceptance in Asia Pacific. Today, Ezion has secured 3 charters (2 liftboats and 1 service rig) with Indonesia’s national oil company (NOC) Pertamina.

Last month, Ezion announced its maiden charter contracts with Malaysia’s NOC Petronas. The charters were for 2 service rigs, 1 earmarked for deployment in the Caspian Sea and the second for offshore Malaysia.

Ezion explained it has taken a few years for the NOCs in Southeast Asia to recognise the superior efficiency of liftboats and service rigs over traditional workboats that typically need other offshore support vessels for service fixed platforms during maintenance jobs.

Potential demand is huge. This is in view of the small liftboat and service rig fleets in Asia Pacific. In Southeast Asia, the Middle East and West Africa, there are only 54 liftboats vs a large fixed platform fleet of 3,266 units (ratio 14 of platforms per liftboat).

In comparison, North America has a larger liftboat fleet of 240 units vs a fixed platform fleet of 3,257 (ratio of 60 platforms per liftboat).