French OSV owner Bourbon has taken 18 ships out of layup during the first half.
The Jacques de Chateauvieux-owned company said on Thursday that the moves reflected the progressive return to service of vessels and the implementation of the disposal plan for non-strategic vessels.
The company, which began a court restructuring in France in August, added that it had 163 units stacked in the first half, down 10% year-on-year.
Total vessels in the fleet shrank to 472 from 495.
The net loss for the first half was €135.2m ($148m) from €260.7m in 2018.
Adjusted revenue increased by 3.5% to €361.5m, reflecting the slow and gradual improvement in activity, it said.
Adjusted EBITDA came in at €84.1m from a loss of €2.2m the year before, when it was hit by bareboat charter costs.
The owner benefited from a 4% increase in daily rates to $8,219 and average utilisation rates up 2.8 points to 54.5%.
There was also a positive foreign currency effect.
Confident of continuing
The company said it was confident of its ability to meet the necessary conditions for the continuation of its activities.
"The results for the half year illustrate our continued efforts to rationalise the fleet and control costs as well as the commitment of all teams to maintain our standards of operational excellence," said CEO Gael Bodenes.
"The market recovery, whilst slow and very gradual, is a reality. However, rigorous management remains essential to ensuring sustainable growth. We remain extremely vigilant and will maintain true discipline in our investment and our contracts choices, while focusing on transforming our model.
"The initial successes obtained during the half year are encouraging."
In July, it said it was seeking a reorganisation process in court after China's ICBC Leasing signalled it would demand repayment of its debts.
The owner added that the Chinese company had sent a series of letters on 18 July expressing its intention to request settlement of all "rental payments" up to 2026, under a guarantee awarded to it by Bourbon.
Bourbon said that because it was not in a "state of cessation of payments", it had requested a safeguard procedure in court.
But the Commercial Court of Marseilles rejected this bid, considering that the guarantees activated by the Chinese company were proof that Bourbon was "insolvent" as of 24 July.
Bourbon then made the reorganisation request.
In June, Bourbon said it was working on securing €80m in new debt and a €164m loan to pay off lenders looking to exit.
