Solstad Offshore exercises $125m option to buy CSV Normand Maximus

Solstad Offshore has exercised its option to buy the construction support vessel Normand Maximus for $125 million. The option was declared on 6 October 2026 by the subsidiary Normand Maximus AS, which charters the vessel from Maximus Shipping, a subsidiary of Solstad Maritime.

Ownership will transfer in October 2027, when the bareboat charter ends. The charterparty began on 7 October 2022 and gave Normand Maximus AS the right to buy the vessel after five years of chartering, subject to 12 months' notice. Solstad Offshore intends to finance the purchase with external debt.

The charter was originally agreed in May 2022 so that Solstad could keep operational control of the vessel. It ran for five years from delivery, with options to extend by five years and purchase options after five and ten years. In November 2024 Solstad discharged a $197 million residual claim tied to the vessel that it had previously guaranteed.

Normand Maximus is the largest vessel in the Solstad fleet. Built in 2016, she is 177.9 metres long and 33 metres wide, with 2,400 square metres of deck space and accommodation for 180 people. She carries DP3 systems, a 900-tonne active heave-compensated crane and a 550-tonne vertical lay system.

The vessel has work lined up for the period after the transfer. In May 2026 Solstad announced a letter of intent with an unnamed international subsea contractor for an engagement starting in the first quarter of 2027, with a firm period to the first quarter of 2029 and options to the first quarter of 2030. The scope includes two work-class remotely operated vehicles with tooling and survey services.

The purchase brings the subsea fleet's flagship back onto Solstad Offshore's own balance sheet just as that contract begins, replacing charter hire with debt service on a vessel already committed into 2029.

This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 7 October 2026.