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Boskalis finds buyer for Smit Lamnalco operations in Australia
Boskalis has signed a contract to sell the Australian and Papua New Guinean operations of Smit Lamnalco to an unnamed buyer amid rising global demand for towage and salvage
Dutch maritime group Boskalis confirmed it has signed an agreement to sell Smit Lamnalco activities in Australia and Papua New Guinea subject to approval by authorities and regulators, but did not disclose the buyer in its financial results announcement.
In 2024, Boskalis acquired the remaining 50% stake in the Smit Lamnalco joint venture it did not already own, and towage activities were fully consolidated for H1 2025 results.
The July 2024 announcement from Boskalis came after a protracted series of moves the business made in an attempt to divest its holdings in the global Smit Lamnalco business and its fleet of some 160 vessels.
As early as 2019, Boskalis announced its desire to divest from its global harbour towage activity, selling its stakes in SAAM Smit, Kotug Smit Towage and Keppel Smit Towage in the Americas, Europe and Singapore, respectively.
In December 2021, Boskalis publicly announced that both it and partner Rezayat Group were undertaking "a review" of their respective stakes in the joint venture that has been operating since the early 1960s.
At the time, Boskalis said it would provide "an update of this review... as soon as there is reason to do so".
With no significant update forthcoming for the next 15 months, in February 2023, Boluda said it had reached an agreement with Boskalis and the Rezayat Group to acquire Smit Lamnalco.
As publicised, the deal was supposed to have seen Boluda take on some 111 vessels from Smit Lamnalco, which Boluda called "the world’s fifth-largest tug owner".
In the nearly 18 months after Boluda announced the deal, reports began to surface of complications around vessels that had earlier been seized by Russia following its invasion and war against neighbour Ukraine and the numerous Western sanctions that came in response.
In announcing its intent to acquire full ownership and control of the Smit Lamnalco JV, Boskalis said Smit Lamnalco had had an annual revenue of approximately US$275M and earnings before taxes and write-offs of US$100M in 2023.
Boskalis’ H1 performance
High demand for salvage and towage has helped Royal Boskalis increase its revenues by 14%. It reported revenues of €2.4Bn (US$2.7Bn) in H1 2025 compared with €2.1Bn in the same period of 2024, while its net profit increased by 43% to €426M compared with €298M in H1 2024. Adjusted for exceptional income in 2024, net profit increased by 52%.
These increases were driven by growth in towage, salvage, dredging and offshore businesses worldwide.
The remaining Smit Lamnalco business is characterised by long-term contracts for clients primarily in the Middle East and West Africa.
Smit Salvage had a busy H1 2025, with assignments in the Middle East, Vietnam and the North Sea, which included two Lloyd’s Open Form contracts.
In the Middle East, Smit was called upon to extinguish a fire on a container ship, while in Vietnam, a salvage team assisted a cargo ship following a collision. Smit was also involved in the emergency response of the collided Stena Immaculate in the North Sea and was active in a wide variety of smaller projects worldwide.
In dredging, the main contribution came from large projects in East Asia and the Middle East, and in the offshore energy sector, vessel utilisation was high, and offshore wind projects contributed to the strong half-year result.
“In the past six months, we have performed exceptionally well across the board,” said Boskalis chief executive Theo Baartmans. “Thanks to high vessel occupancy and strong project results in all three divisions, we have achieved an exceptionally good first-half result,” he said in a financial statement.
“Given the current turbulent geopolitical landscape and strong results from recent years, this is an extraordinary achievement.”
Mr Baartmans highlighted the importance of its 11,000 employees and the group’s focus on training and recruitment.
"Investing in attracting and retaining talent is therefore a high priority within Boskalis,” he said. “In dredging, we successfully completed several sizeable multi-year projects in Singapore, Taiwan and the Middle East.
“We recently also secured a large multi-year project in Taiwan, which will occupy a number of large dredging vessels for the next two years.”
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