French offshore shipping giant Bourbon has laid up another 26 deepwater vessels in the first quarter as the downturn continued.

It did not give a total for the number of ships now stacked, but added that layups of shallow water vessels peaked at 76 in the period.

At the end of 2016, the owner had stacked 104 units, with 19 exiting the market in the fourth quarter.

First quarter revenue declined to EUR 225.5m ($245.68m) from EUR 314.5m, while utilisation plunged to 46.8% against 71.7% a year ago.

The average day rate excluding crew boats fell to $15,267 versus $16,299.

“Despite oil prices remaining above $50 a barrel during the first quarter of 2017, activity is yet to recover in the shallow water offshore and deepwater offshore sectors," said CEO Jacques de Chateauvieux.

"However, the upturn witnessed in late 2016 in specialised subsea and personnel transport operations looks set to continue in 2017.

“Bourbon is therefore focusing its efforts on what it can control: cost reduction and its transformation in response to evolving customers’ expectations.”

In the deepwater segment, the start of recovery in drilling activities, in particular in South America, has allowed the utilisation rate to stabilise.

A previously stacked platform supply vessel (PSV) has returned to service at the end of the quarter to support an exploration campaign in Colombia

Shallow water activity was mainly impacted by monsoons in Asia and by weak drilling and maintenance activity.

Average utilisation rates have continued to fall sharply.

But clients have been keen to renew long-term contracts in deepwater, shallow water and subsea markets, it said.

Looking ahead, Bourbon believes the pace of the recovery will be "partly influenced by the extent to which production recovers in the US."

"If it materialises, this will result in delaying a significant price rise by several quarters. Nevertheless, the fall in production of existing fields should see a return of investment, especially in sectors where rapid profitability is guaranteed."

It added: "The strategy is still to concentrate on the utilisation rate of the fleet in operation and to stack vessels proactively."