Ardent to Wind Down Salvage Activities

The MV Kea Trader aground on Durand Reef in New Caledonia, prior to the cyclones. Photo credit: Ardent

After five years in business, global salvage firm Ardent says it will no longer be entering into new contracts from May 2020 onward. 

Ardent, a leading emergency management and wreck removal company, was formed in 2015 with the merger of Svitzer Salvage, then part of the Maersk Group, and Titan Salvage, part of U.S.-based Crowley Group. 

Since its inception, Ardent says it has completed over 300 contracts worldwide for the maritime and oil and gas industries with zero lost time incidents. 

News that Ardent will no longer being entering into new contracts comes after recent shake-ups at the company and the liquidation of certain parts of its business, notably the sale of its OPA90 division in the United States to Dutch marine services group Royal Boskalis Westminster in April.

In September 2019, Ardent’s top management received funding from AURELIUS Finance Company, an alternative direct lender, to buyout Svitzer and Crowley resulting in Ardent’s senior management becoming the main shareholders in the company. 

Later in December, the company announced it would be moving its headquarters from Houston, Texas to Ijmuiden, Netherlands and refocus its strategy away from offshore decommissioning to its core business of marine salvage.

Reasons for Ardent’s sudden winding down and what’s in store for the future were not immediately clear. 

“All current preparedness and salvage contracts will be fulfilled but outside of existing relations no more new salvage cases will be handled,” Ardent said in a brief statement posted to social media and again on its website.

“Ardent would like to take this opportunity to thank all its valuable customers and partners over the past 5 years for their trust in Ardent and its employees’ capabilities,” the statement concluded. 

A spokesperson for the company said they were not authorized to comment further on the matter.

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