Restructured French offshore support vessel (OSV) group Bourbon has welcomed four experienced new directors to help it navigate a course through the coronavirus crisis.
The company was taken over by a group of lenders represented by Societe Phoceenne de Participations (SPP) in January, ending Jacques de Chateauvieux's ownership.
It has now strengthened its supervisory board, which is chaired by former French banking executive Jean Peyrelevade.
The company said Carsten Ploughmann Andersen has joined as a director.
He is a former vice-president of AP Moller-Maersk and was Maersk Supply Service chief executive from 2004 to 2015.
Experienced OSV executive Jean Cahuzac is the second new face.
He was CEO of Kristian Siem's contracting and shipowning company Subsea 7 from 2008 until December 2019.
Total and GDF Suez expertise
Yves-Louis Darricarrere, a member of Total's executive committee from 2003 to 2015, is another addition, as is Florence Weingarten, group chief counsel of Transdev, a subsidiary of French public financial institution Caisse des Depots since 2015.
She was previously in charge of antitrust and regulatory issues at GDF Suez, now Engie.
There are four other directors, including bank representation.
"A major health crisis, the coronavirus outbreak is a new ordeal for the oil field service sector at a time when the economy as a whole is being hit," chairman Peyrelevade said.
"The new talents joining the supervisory board of SPP are all assets as the Bourbon group is resolutely committed to its recovery, preservation of its operational continuity and the deployment of its strategic plan."
Gael Bodenes, chairman of Bourbon Maritime, added: "The confidence of the board and the remarkable expertise of its members are key for Bourbon, which is facing major challenges.
"In the face of this global pandemic, I would also like to pay tribute to the extraordinary determination and professionalism of the teams serving our clients every day and providing them with the best support to meet the challenges of this health crisis and its economic impact."
In February, Bourbon denied it will auction off 33 ships to US rival Tidewater.
The company was responding to Securities and Exchange Commission filings from Tidewater's activist investor Bob Robotti, which said the Houston offshore giant had approved a plan to bid on the vessels should they go up for auction.
SPP is made up of BNP Paribas, Credit Lyonnais, Natixis, Societe Generale, Credit Mutuel Equity SCR, and two regional offshoots of Credit Agricole, another big French lender.
Plougmann Andersen was at the Maersk group for nearly 40 years.
