Gulf Marine Services awarded pair of charter contracts

Abu Dhabi-based offshore vessel operator Gulf Marine Services (GMS) has secured two charter awards in the MENA region.

The awards are a 24-month contract for a mid-size class vessel and a 16-month contract extension for a small class vessel, increasing the company’s backlog to $181.2m.

GMS has seen levels of enquiries and tenders continuing to increase in the group’s principal markets, and the company expects the utilisation for the core fleet of 13 self-elevating support vessels to improve over 2018.

“Against the background of continuing relative strength in the oil price, we are making satisfactory progress in recovering our utilisation levels and strengthening our relationships with key strategic clients in the wider MENA region. We would hope to see a progressive improvement in charter rates as market capacity begins to tighten in 2019 and beyond, and a more substantial improvement in our results, benefitting from our high operational gearing,” said Duncan Anderson, chief executive officer of GMS.