Pacific Radiance, affiliate seek listings in bet on offshore energy boom

By Rujun Shen

SINGAPORE, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Singapore Offshore oilfield services provider Pacific Radiance Ltd and its Indonesian affiliate are looking to list their shares to benefit from rising investor interest in vessel operators expanding in the fast-growing offshore energy sector.

The planned initial public offering of affiliate PT Logindo would make Pacific Radiance the second Singapore-based offshore support vessel owner to list its Indonesian arm in Jakarta this year.

Pacific Radiance, which unveiled the IPO plans on Wednesday, itself would become the first offshore support vessel operator to get listed in Singapore since 2010. Offshore marine services company POSH Semco, controlled by Malaysia's richest man Robert Kuok, is also planning a listing in the city-state, sources said previously.

More than half of Pacific Radiance's fleet of 133 vessels are owned and operated by its affiliates in markets with cabotage rules, such as Indonesia. In Indonesia, laws requiring offshore vessels to be Indonesian-owned have limited supply and driven up the cost of chartering such vessels.

"Indonesia is a big opportunity for companies that are able to set up operations with local partners and have the capability to raise the funds to invest in the fleet," Yoke Min Pang, executive chairman of Pacific Radiance, told reporters on Thursday.

Chartering rates are at least 20 percent higher in Indonesia than other markets, Pang said.

The proposed Logindo IPO follows in the footsteps of PT Pelayaran Nasional Bina Buana Raya Tbk (BBR), part of Singapore-listed Marco Polo Marine Ltd. BBR made its debut on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in January.

Singapore-listed ASL Marine Holdings Ltd also said recently that it plans to list its Indonesia affiliate PT Capital Nusantara Indonesia in Jakarta.

The listing will give Logindo a chance to raise funds to expand rapidly as competitors race to build up capacity in Indonesia.

In 2008, the Indonesian government introduced cabotage laws that required vessels to be owned by Indonesian companies and fly Indonesian flags. It allowed exemptions three years later to vessels in the oil and gas sector due to a shortage of such vessels.

Exemptions for speciality ships commonly used in offshore oil and gas fields, including AHTS vessels (anchor handling tug supply vessels), PSVs (platform support vessels), and DSVs (diving support vessels), expired at the end of last year. Exemptions for other types of vessels are to be phased out in the next two years.

Logindo, in which Pacific Radiance owns a 49 percent stake, has a fleet of 58 offshore support vessels. It will join a growing number of listed offshore oilfield service providers in Indonesia, including PT Wintermar Offshore Marine Tbk, whose share price has gone up over 34 percent so far this year.

Pacific Radiance said it expects Logindo to be listed by the end of the year but did not disclose the size of the offering. Sources with knowledge of the plan have said the size of the IPO would be around $40-60 million, declining to be identified because the details of the proposal are confidential.

Offshore exploration and spending in Indonesia is expected to more than double in the next three years to $6.3 billion, outpacing the 60 percent increase globally, according to energy consultancy Douglas-Westwood. (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Ryan Woo)