All 13 GMS vessels under contract after hat-trick award

Following the award of three new contracts, Gulf Marine Services (GMS), a provider of advanced self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels for the offshore oil and gas and renewables industries, now has all 13 vessels in its fleet under contract.

The combined duration of these three new contracts is 31 months, GMS said on Wednesday.

These include a 23-month contract for an E Class vessel in Qatar, starting in early 2022, and two K Class vessel contracts totalling 8 months starting in August 2021.

Combined, these contract awards bring secured utilisation to 86 per cent for 2021 and 50 per cent for 2022 and order book (including options) increases to $215 million.

Mansour Al Alami, GMS Executive Chairman said: “These contract awards mean that all 13 vessels in our fleet are all under contract which is something we haven’t seen since 2016 and is a very good indicator of an improving market. The 23-month contract award for the E-Class vessel was at rates significantly higher than we have seen in recent times and we would expect improvement in day rates to continue as the supply/demand dynamics improve in our favour”.

He added: “The better capital structure now in place, post agreeing a much-improved deal with the company’s debt providers, combined with the success of the recent fundraise, further underpins the Company’s future, supporting its ability to, over the next two years, significantly deleverage the balance sheet.

“The company’s performance is underpinned by positive market conditions, supporting utilisation, contracted activity, the pipeline of opportunities and day rates. It is also supported by the actions taken by the Board to actively manage costs, improve operational efficiencies, and put in place an improved capital structure, which will benefit the company’s near and long-term prospects”.