Offshore Wind Fills Boskalis’ Order Book, Eases 2018 Headwinds

The offshore wind and cable activities delivered a substantially lower contribution to Boskalis’ Offshore Energy division in 2018, which was attributed to project-specific operational and contractual issues on certain projects, the company said.

EBITDA from the Offshore Energy segment amounted to EUR 111.3 million in 2018, with an operating result of EUR 5 million. In 2017, the segment saw and EBITDA of EUR 221.1 million and EUR an operating result of EUR 85 million.

On the other hand, the revenue from the Offshore Energy division reached EUR 1.041 billion in 2018, compared to EUR 972.1 million in 2017.

The year-on-year revenue increase was due to the contracting activities, which account for approximately 57% of divisional revenue, and from Gardline, due to the full year effects of the consolidation of this multidisciplinary marine survey company, as well as due to a substantial increase of the company’s revenues since the acquisition in mid-August 2017.

At the end of 2018, Boskalis acquired a new offshore supply vessel that will be converted into a geophysical survey vessel for the Northwest European market. The entry into service is expected in early 2020.

”At Offshore Energy there was a positive contribution primarily from the contracting activities and Gardline’s survey services. Heavy Marine Transport experienced difficulties, particularly at the lower end of the market, which is why we are terminating the low-end transport activities,” Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, said.

Order  Book

At the end of 2018, the division’s order book, excluding the company’s share in the order books of joint ventures and associates, stood at EUR 1.282 billion of which approximately half is directly related to offshore wind.

Within offshore wind, the volume of cable work in order book was further increased with a number of project wins, including Ostwind 2, Moray East, and Triton Knoll, the company said.