Hornbeck Offshore to Buy Ten OSVs from Edison Chouest

Hornbeck Offshore Services announced today that it has entered into definitive purchase agreements to acquire ten high-specification offshore supply vessels from Edison Chouest Offshore.

The new generation OSVs include eight Jones Act compliant U.S.-flagged 280 class DP-2 OSVs with capacities of around 4,750 DWT. The other two vessels are Mexican-flagged, 240 class DP-2 OSVs of 3,200 DWT.

Hornbeck said it expects to deliveries of all ten vessels over the next 12 to 15 months after the completion of regulatory dry dockings to be conducted by ECO. The first delivery is expected within the next 90 days.

The transaction will be paid in cash for an undisclosed amount.

Hornbeck Offshore Services is a leading provider of new OSVs to the offshore energy industry in the Gulf of Mexico and Latin America, as well as the U.S. military and non-oilfield customers.

The company filed for bankruptcy in April 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out global oil demand. It emerged later that year after reorganizing according to a pre-packaged restructuring plan with lenders that allowed the company to continue operations while paying vendors and employees in fulll and resulted in a $100 million cash infusion.

But Hornbeck Offshore’s real troubles date back to late 2014 when oil prices crashed from over $100 a barrel, hitting the offshore services market hard and forcing HOS to stack a large portion of its fleet. Even before the pandemic, in December 2019 the company’s stock was suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange after its minimum market capitalization requirements.

“We are very excited about this acquisition, which puts us on a path for growth for the benefit of our employees, oilfield and non-oilfield customers and other constituents,” said Todd Hornbeck, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented. “We appreciate the financial support of our capital providers that underwrote this endeavor. We look forward to executing our strategic plans for additional growth and business diversification initiatives in the future.”