Northern Endeavour is 18 years old. It will not be economical to...

Northern Endeavour is 18 years old. It will not be economical to keep it going much longer. It's like an old car - the only reason to put up with all of the breakdowns and maintenance requirements is if you don't have the money to buy a new one. Even worse because of the cost of doing maintenance offshore.

Woodside sold it for a reason. If it could sail they may be able to refurbish it by sailing to a shipyard in Singapore. Problem is that it can't sail, so all repairs need to be done offshore at Australian offshore labour rates, plus chopper costs etc.

NOGA will squeeze a few years out of NE but the end is not far off. Not really an option for Buffalo imo. There may be other benefits in the partnership with NOGA but don't rely on NE.