LONDON, UK: Gulf Marine Services (GMS) announced the award of three new contracts, with a combined duration of 31 months.

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

Combined these contract awards brings secured utilisation to 86% for 2021 and 50% for 2022 and orderbook (including options) increases to US $215m.

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.

The Company has seen a solid first half to the year and is well placed to see further improvement in the second half, which gives the Board added confidence that GMS remains on track to see a significant improvement in EBITDA going forward, with the bottom line turning positive after many years of continued losses.

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. Combined, this all serves to reset the GMS story, driving benefits for the Company, its employees, contractors, partners and investors.”