UAE-based offshore support vessel owner Gulf Marine Services has secured two contracts that take it into Africa and Latin America for the first time, while also opening up a new line of business in third-party vessel management. The London-listed company said one of the awards covers the deployment of a newly acquired liftboat on a 170-day charter, including options, at what it described as strong dayrates. The second contract sees GMS move beyond its core fleet operations, with a one-year agreement to provide full technical and operational management for a third-party owned vessel working in Africa. The step introduces an asset-light revenue stream and signals a broader push to leverage the company’s operational platform, GMS said. Together, the contracts lift GMS’s backlog to around $666m and expand its geographic reach into markets where it has not previously operated. Executive chairman Mansour Al Alami said the awards reflect the company’s ongoing diversification strategy, both geographically and in terms of services. He pointed to the vessel charter as validation of recent investment in fleet additions, while highlighting the management contract as a way to build new long-term relationships without tying up capital. Founded in 1977, GMS operates a fleet of 15 self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels, spanning small, mid and large classes. The units are designed to handle a wide range of offshore work, from platform maintenance and well intervention to installation and decommissioning, as well as offshore wind support. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsUnited Arab Emirates