Although the operating results of Royal Boskalis Westminster declined overall in the first half of 2018, revenues from its Dredging & Inland Infrastructure division increased along with utilisation of its hopper dredger fleet.

Boskalis, which also operates in the Offshore Energy, Towage and Salvage sectors saw a drop in the performance of its Offshore Energy sector, with transport activities in sharp decline due primarily to Asian market overcapacity. Boskalis decided to terminate such activities, resulting in an extraordinary charge of €397 million.

Revenues for the first half of 2018 rose by 6.6% to €1.17 billion, the company posted a net operating profit of €34.5 million and can boast an order book €3.9 billion.

The outlook for Dredging & Inland Infrastructure is positive, with the current order book indicating a high level of fleet utilisation over the next six to nine months.

By Larz Bourne