Subsea vessel demand will grow rapidly over the coming years, according to analyst Douglas-Westwood, with the figure for global subsea vessel operating expenditure set to total US $122 billion during the period 2015-2019.

Demand will rise at an accelerated rate of 7% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), predicts the analyst in its new ‘World Subsea Vessel Operations Market Forecast’.

Asia will be the single largest market with 20% of global expenditure over the next five years, mainly driven by shallow water inspection repair & maintenance (IRM) and pipelay-related activities.

The deepwater Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and Brazil are expected to account for 40% of global expenditure, with Africa alone set to represent 16% of the market. The majority of that activity will be associated with deepwater field developments in both the traditional Gulf of Guinea markets, such as Angola and Nigeria, as well as the new Indian Ocean growth markets of east Africa’s Mozambique and Tanzania.

Australasia, meanwhile, has the fastest growth rate of all regions with a CAGR of 21% through the forecast period, due to a backlog of high profile gas developments intended to support the region’s Liquefied Natural Gas export com­mit­ments.

Field development (37%) and IRM (39%) will remain the primary drivers of global subsea vessel spending as new projects move towards deeper waters, and operators continue to invest in the extension and optimisation of existing producing fields.

Douglas-Westwood’s report covers the main factors driving demand for vessel types including ROV service units, dive support vessels, flexlay, light well intervention and pipelay vessels.

Offshore