Bourbon Liberty News

Bourbon announced that the two crew members abducted on board the Bourbon Liberty 251 off the coast of Nigeria on February 23, have been released and are in good health. Bourbon, for reasons of confidentiality, made only a brief statement on the matter and would not offer further comment.

Bourbon celebrates delivery of the 500th vessel, placing the group at the head of the world's largest fleet of vessels operated (vessels owned or on bareboat charter) for the offshore marine services industry. Bourbon announced the entry into service of its 500th vessel - the Bourbon Evolution 806, the sixth vessel of the first series of vessels for inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) of subsea infrastructure for the offshore industry. Bourbon thus ranks among the world's leading groups for the offshore marine services industry.

Net Income Group share up 174% to €115 million. Increased operating margin1 and capital gains generated €575.7 million EBITDA, up 41.7% compared to 2012. Return on average capital employed (ROACE: EBIT / average capital employed excluding installments) increased to 9.8% compared to 5.8% in 2012. The majority of the vessel sales were done at the end of the year. The cost of financial debt remained at the same level as 2012 (€73 million). Other financial costs consist mainly of foreign exchange losses, 65% of which are unrealized at year end. Operating margin increased almost 2 points versus 2012 as the benefits of the focus on operational excellence began to materialize.

With the AHTS Bourbon Liberty 320, BOURBON is now running a fleet of 100 Bourbon Liberty series-built, diesel-electric propelled and DP 2 vessels, a first in the oil services industry. This milestone coincides with the delivery of the first two of 20 deep offshore PSVs of the new BOURBON series: the Bourbon Explorer 500. "The Bourbon Liberty's operational success and the launch of the Bourbon Explorer 500 series strengthen our ability to provide a complete range of services worldwide…

Revenues up 10.5% vs. full year 2012 to €1.312 billion and up 6.0% vs. fourth quarter 2012 to €331.6 million impacted by U.S. •    Foreign currency movements versus the Euro in 2013 (most notably versus the U.S. “2013 revenues of more than €1.3 billion, a complete range of 485 vessels with an average age of 6.2 years and the broad geographical reach of its activities makes Bourbon a leader in the offshore marine services industry,” said Christian Lefèvre, Chief Executive Officer of Bourbon.

PC Maritime’s Navmaster ECDIS has been ordered for Bourbon’s latest generation IMR (Inspection, Maintenance and Repair) vessels being built in Zheijiang shipyard, China. Four dual Navmaster ECDIS have been supplied, with a further five Bourbon Evolution 800 to be equipped this year and in 2014. Operating a fleet of 458 vessels, Bourbon is a major player in the offshore marine services market. The first vessel equipped, Bourbon Evolution 802, is operating off the coast of Nigeria and reports good satisfaction levels with the Navmaster ECDIS.

A year after taking delivery of its last Bourbon 200 vessel and first Bourbon Liberty 300 vessel, Bourbon has extended its range of services with the Bourbon Liberty 151, the first vessel in a series of 15 PSVs. The first Bourbon Liberty 150 series vessel will operate for Maersk Oil and Qatar. Bourbon has been investing in a range of next generation built-in-series vessels since 2008. By the end of 2014, the group will be able to provide clients with an unprecedented series of 111 standardized, efficient and innovative Bourbon Liberty vessels devoted to offshore activities.

PC Maritime’s Navmaster ECDIS ordered for Bourbon’s latest generation IMR (Inspection, Maintenance & Repair) vessels. The new ships are beign built in Zheijiang shipyard, China. Four dual Navmaster ECDIS 800 have been supplied, with a further five vessels to be equipped this year and in 2014. The first vessel to be fully operational, Bourbon Evolution 802, reports good satisfaction levels with the Navmaster ECDIS. Her crew are using PC Maritime’s familiarisation training course onboard to achieve Type-specific certification, and three officers are already formally certified. A second vessel is now on sea trials. PC Maritime are also supplying Bourbon with single ECDIS for their newbuild platform supply vessels, the Bourbon Liberty 300 series.

This article deals with the evolution of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. It was proclaimed in 2012 that the Somali pirate business model had been broken by a combination of coordinated naval patrols, heightened vessel security, and the ubiquitous presence of armed guards aboard valuable ships. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) attributed only 71 attacks to Somali pirates in the first 11 months of 2012, down from 237 the previous year. However, attacks are on the rise across the continent in the Gulf of Guinea, with 51 incidents recorded for the same period.

Software house NAPA Group contracted to supply Bourbon with loading computers for 55 offshore support vessels (OSV's). The latest software will enable Bourbon to improve safe loading and unloading with maximum cargo intake while improving assistance to stability, longitudinal strength for operational efficiency. NAPA has begun and will continue to provide Bourbon OSVs with the most versatile and sophisticated 3D systems on the market; providing “real time” onboard loading calculations and ship stability analysis, as well as an emergency response system during loading.

Bourbon confirms that the 7 crew members, 6 Russians and 1 Estonian, abducted during the boarding of the Bourbon Liberty 249 off the coast of Nigeria, on October 15, 2012, were released today. Despite difficult conditions while in captivity, they all appear to be in good health. They are currently being looked after by the members of the Bourbon  Emergency Unit in Nigeria where they are undergoing careful medical and psychological check-ups. The 7 employees will be returning to their own countries within the next few days to be reunited with their families and friends. This news comes as an immense relief to all Bourbon employees who share the joy of the families.

Earlier this year, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering firm Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. (GPA) completed a major milestone with the delivery of the final of 54 GPA 254L AHTS vessels, also known as the Bourbon Liberty 200 series, at Zhejiang Shipyard in China. In 2006, BOURBON Offshore placed an order with GPA for the Basic Design and Contract/Regulatory Package for 26 of these identical vessels. In 2007, the order was expanded by an additional 28 vessels. Designed and tailored specifically to BOURBON’s requirements…

Bourbon maintained its steady march forward to offshore dominance with a unique naming ceremony in China, which included the naming of Bourbon Liberty 254, the last of 54 vessel to be delivered of the Bourbon Liberty 200 series; and the naming of Bourbon Liberty 301, the first vessel of the Bourbon Liberty 300 series of 20 AHTS. The new Bourbon Liberty 300 AHTS has been designed and built by Sinopacific Zhejiang Co. of China. The vessel boasts a larger deck area and liquid capacity, driven by the need to service increasing number of deepwater energy projects.

MarineNews caught up with BOURBON’s Chief Executive Officer, Christian Lefèvre. As BOURBON’s CEO since January 1, 2011, Lefèvre has aggressively set about furthering BOURBON's business strategy which focuses on the offshore oil and gas marine services sector. The newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer has hit the ground running and has BOURBON on a steady course to achieve the promise of the “BOURBON 2015 Leadership Strategy Plan.” A total of 423 vessels – 251 crew / 70 deepwater…

BOURBON opens a new affiliate in Saint Petersburg, Bourbon Baltic, which will provide clients with first-class ship management resources. It complements BOURBON’s current operations in Sakhalin. Global leader in offshore oil and gas marine services, BOURBON opens Bourbon Baltic, an affiliate based in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to optimize vessel crew recruitment and continue offering oil and gas clients around the world top quality ship management services for their offshore needs. BOURBON affiliates are strategically located around the world to work closely with local stakeholders and get access to highly skilled seafarers. North-western Russia with its center in St Petersburg has a long-standing tradition of maritime activity and was chosen by BOURBON for the Group’s Russian affiliate.

Capitalizing on its experience and leadership in offshore oil and gas marine services, BOURBON continues to extend its range of services and strengthen its positions in the offshore wind industry. BOURBON has just installed an innovative offshore wind structure in the Atlantic. In perfect conditions off the coast of Portugal at Aguçadoura, BOURBON has installed a semi-submersible wind turbine with a WindFloat foundation, a project led by the Portuguese utility EDP and designed…

The motto at Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. (GPA) for over thirty years and continuing to this day has always been: Engineering Ideas into Reality. For clients worldwide, no matter how large or small the project, from single vessels to an unprecedented number of vessels in one series, the adage rings true. Behind the company’s success and commitment to each and every client is a team of over 70 professionals on four continents, led by the company’s Chairman Guido Perla and supported by his management team.

Despite challenging conditions, the resilience shown by a 2010 EBITDA of 240.9 million euros, validates the pertinence of BOURBON’s strategy Net income, group share of 39.2 million euros “The 2010 results obtained, despite an unusually sluggish market, illustrate the merits of a strategy aimed at meeting client needs in terms of safety, reliability and lower costs through continuous investments in innovative and high-performance vessels”  says Jacques de Chateauvieux, Chairman of the BOURBON Board of Directors. “The conditions for the success of the plan are now met,” stresses Christian Lefèvre, Chief Executive Officer of BOURBON. “Cash from the 500 million euros disposal plan is already available.

The Bourbon 2015 Leadership Strategy consists of further investing in innovative and cost effective vessels to satisfy customers’ increasing focus on safe and efficient vessels to support their offshore activities, and to enable them to reduce their overall operation costs. By adding 80 supply vessels and 64 crewboats through a $2b investment plan in new buildings, Bourbon will be operating a fleet of 600 vessels for deepwater and shallow water logistics services by 2015. The Bourbon 2015 Leadership Strategy will be built on the Bourbon Liberty series of vessels, to speed up the renewal of the old and obsolete existing shallow water fleet and on the proven expertise of its deepwater operations for exploration and production, including subsea activities.

Following a successful run of deliveries to Bourbon’s Liberty 200 series of AHTS vessels, the offshore services specialist has now placed orders for a further four state-of-the-art MacGregor anchor-handling systems from Cargotec. Cargotec has won a contract to supply four sets of MacGregor anchor-handling systems to a series of anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels on order at Sinopacific Group in China for major offshore oil and gas services company, Bourbon. The AHTS vessels are based on a SPA80 design, which has been jointly developed by Bourbon and its partner Shanghai Design Associates (SDA). The anchor-handling equipments are scheduled for delivery in 2011.

In October Cargotec has secured a $14m order from the Sinopacific Group in China for the supply of a further 16-shipsets of anchor-handling systems for Bourbon’s newbuildings. The shipsets will be delivered between April 2011 and February 2012. This contract follows an order placed in June this year for four ships in the same series, the first shipset is scheduled for delivery in Q1/2011. The systems will be installed on anchor handling and tug supply (AHTS) vessels based on an SPA80 design and built by Zhejiang Shipyard.

“In a market environment that continues to be difficult, Bourbon can today report third-quarter 2010 revenue growth of 6.4%. This confirms the upturn in our Offshore activity, announced previously and already in evidence in the second quarter. It also confirms our strategic choices and reflects our unique positioning on the market. Our clients are enthusiastic about the new BOURBON vessels which are proving to be more innovative, safer and capable of keeping their operating costs down,” said Jacques de Chateauvieux, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Bourbon. “Bourbon predicted a gradual recovery in the oil companies’ activity in the second half of 2010 and more substantial growth in 2011. The activity of the third quarter confirms this trend.

“Thanks to the dynamism and exceptional dedication of the Women and Men who work at BOURBON, activity grew in 2010 despite still difficult market conditions and administrative problems in Brazil which are now resolved. Greater demands from clients in terms of safety, reliability of operations, crew skills and transparency can only increase the value of our offer of services and vessels. 2010 saw the launch of the BOURBON 2015 Leadership Strategy plan and the finalization of BOURBON’s refocus on oil and gas services. The new business structure is in place and, day after day, the staff teams are rallying together to deliver the actions needed to achieve our objectives.