Improving, but uneven, activity the world over pushed Siem Offshore to higher earnings in the first quarter.
The Oslo-listed offshore vessel owner reported a $30.4m profit for the first three quarters of 2023, up from the $6.6m profit posted a year ago, as the company reports ramping up “in all segments and in all regions”.
But the North Sea spot market took time to get going with seasonal weakness, it said, as did other key regions.
“The expected increase in activity in Brazil, West Africa and the North Sea is showing signs of realisation, although it is progressing slower than expected, we see higher rates and longer periods of firm contracts within several segments,” Siem Offshore said.
For its anchor handling tug supply vessels, strength came from India and Australia, with the company continuing to focus on the segment in Australia, Asia and the North Sea.
For the company's four offshore subsea construction vessels (OSCVs) multi-year contracts are available, an opportunity it may take, after having refrained from putting those ships on period charter during the market’s recent lean years.
“The company has several vessels in position to target long-term opportunities in the coming years,” it said.
“The long-term outlook for our OSV fleet continues to strengthen due to the need for adequate and secure energy supply. The renewable energy segment is under pressure to increase production and meet the transition for a sustainable energy.”
Its OSCVs, along with two well intervention vessels and its scientific core-drilling vessel make up Siem Offshore’s subsea vessel category.
For the quarter, it brought in $44.1m of the company‘s $76.5m in revenue.
The seven ships had 97% utilisation.
The top line figure was up from the $61m reported for the first quarter of 2022.
The company’s six PSVs drove $9.9m in revenue with 94% utlilisation, its eight-strong AHTS fleet $19m with 78% utilisation and its five fast crew and oil spill recovery vessels $3.2m with 93% utilisation.
All segments saw year-over-year improvement, save the fast crew and oil spill recovery vessels, which brought in $4.1m in the first three months of 2022 with 100% utilisation.
