Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Bourbon's stacked fleet hits 178 vessels in 2017, going concern issue flagged

4dc69a05734469ba300f98a845a20e8c
One of the world’s largest offshore vessel owner and operators Bourbon Corp saw its stacked fleet jump to a massive 178 vessels in 2017.

In its annual results Bourbon said the number of vessels it had stacked in 2017 was 178.2 (full time equivalent) up 52 on 2016. This means that on average last year one-third of its fleet of 511.9 vessels was laid-up.

Bourbon reported a net loss for 2017 of EUR576.3m which EUR167.2m in provisions for it describes as its “non-smart” fleet, which are not part of the company’s digitalisation plans announced in February this year. Bourbon plans to dispose of 41 out 65 vessels in its “non-smart” fleet.

Of its fleet of 334 vessels in operation Bourbon achieved a utilisation rate 82.4% in 2017.

The company is also in breach of various loan covenants and is still in talks with its lenders as a result a “going concern” issue being flagged.

“This situation raises a material uncertainty with regards to the going concern, the company is however confident in its ability to find a balanced solution with its lenders – often long-standing partners – that suits all parties and allows the company to adapt its financing to its future development,” the company said.

Meanwhile Bourbon is forging ahead with its disgitisation plans.

“On the basis of our experience as a leader, we aspire to change our business model for more integrated services, to capitalize on the digital revolution to connect our fleet and to make our new organization less centralized and more agile,” said Gaël Bodénès, ceo of Bourbon.