Cal Dive Sells Shallow Water Diving Fleet

Midnight Dancer, one of Cal Dive’s 4-point DSVs, image courtesy Cal Dive

Cal Dive has come a long way since its founders pioneered mixed gas diving in California’s offshore oilfields back in the early 1960s at incredible risk to their own personal safety. Risks that made possible the massive offshore drilling rush that subsequently followed and gave rise to companies such as Oceaneering and Helix Energy Solutions Group.

The company announced today the sale of its U.S. Gulf of Mexico-based shallow water surface diving fleet to a privately held company for cash of $18.5 million and a 19.9% minority interest in the entity acquiring the assets.  Utilization of Cal Dive’s fleet of surface diving vessels has averaged 24 percent over the past 6 months.

With the agreement however, the unnamed buyer has the exclusive right to provide any surface diving services required by Cal Dive in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to support pipelay, decommissioning, platform installation and other integrated services.

Included in the sale are eight surface diving vessels and miscellaneous inventory and equipment.

Quinn Hébert, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cal Dive, commented today on the agreement:

“This transaction is part of our ongoing efforts to concentrate our financial and other resources on key strategic initiatives. These include our U.S. Gulf of Mexico saturation diving, pipelay and decommissioning and salvage operations and our construction and diving services in key international markets such as Mexico, Australia, Southeast Asia and the North Sea.”

The majority of the shares of Cal Dive International are owned by Helix Energy Solutions Group, a company led by former North Sea saturation diver Owen Kratz.  Helix ESG spun off Cal Dive’s shallow water marine contracting capabilities as a separate entity in February 2006.

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