In the past quarter, Royal Boskalis Westminster said that projects continued to be affected by the consequences of Covid-19, albeit to varying degrees.
The Dutch company added that international travel and entry restrictions made it “as challenging as ever” to keep projects and vessels operational, especially in the Far East. Here, Boskalis said, additional costs due to Covid-19 measures are weighing heavily on the margins of certain projects.
Nevertheless, Boskalis had a successful third quarter, with a higher vessel utilisation. In terms of the orderbook, EUR300 million (USD340 million) worth of contracts were acquired in the quarter.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the EBITDA level in the second half of the year will be in line with the EUR226 million (USD258.6 million) achieved in the first half.
In its offshore energy business segment, projects in Taiwan and Europe contributed significantly to Boskalis’ contracting revenue. In terms of services, marine transport and services contributed significantly and subsea services, partly due to the integration of Rever Offshore, maintained the strong performance from the first half of the year.
The utilisation of the heavy transport vessels was fractionally lower compared to the first half of the year, while the rest of the fleet (diving support, crane, survey, cable laying and fall pipe vessels) was better utilised.
During the quarter, new contract awards were largely related to the services activities (transport, subsea services and survey). On balance, the offshore energy orderbook decreased compared to mid 2021, added the company.
Based on its orderbook overall, Boskalis said it is in good shape. The consequences of stringent Covid-19 restrictions will play an important role, however. The definitive start of a sizeable project in the Philippines is also of great importance.
Boskalis was also awarded a EUR450 million (USD515.2 million) contract for the transportation and installation of monopile foundations and substations for an offshore wind farm development, which will tie up one year of crane vessel utilisation days, in addition to the equivalent of two years of heavy transport vessel deliveries. Engineering and pre-construction work has already commenced and project execution is scheduled to commence in 2023, said Boskalis.
