Middle East OSV owner Topaz Energy and Marine has bounced back into profit in the fourth quarter as vessel use rose.
It said net earnings were $18m in the final three months, up from a loss of $6m in 2017.
Revenue grew to $106m from $69m, while core vessel utilisation rose from 67% to 85%, with significant improvements coming in the MENA and Africa regions.
The company said operational efficiencies and the impact of all its Caspian Sea Tengiz logistics project vessels being fully operational towards the end of the period ensured an increased EBITDA margin of 58%.
BP last week extended deals for 12 ships in Azerbaijan through to 2025, with options, building the contract backlog to $1.7bn.
CEO Rene Kofod-Olsen said the performance was strong last year.
He added: “We remain agile in the management of our asset portfolio to ensure that we are at the forefront of industry innovation to drive growth in established and new markets.
"Following vessel divestments earlier in the year, we added two modern AHTSVs which were deployed into the growing market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to service a major oil company.
"Meanwhile, we secured contracts for the two modern subsea newbuildings which we took delivery of in Q1 2019."
The Tengiz operation delivered better than expected returns in 2018 thanks to operational efficiencies and strict cost control, the company said.
"We expect to capitalise on these and continue delivering robust returns in 2019 as all 20 vessels of the fleet will be earning full revenue for the year,” Kofod-Olsen said.
