Profit drops at UAE’s Gulf Marine Services after vessels evacuated

The UAE’s Gulf Marine Services (GMS), a London-listed provider of offshore support for oil, gas and renewables, said profit fell by about a quarter from January to March due to the Iran war.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation stood at around $19.5 million for the first three months of 2026, down from nearly $25.6 million in the same period last year, GMS said in a bourse disclosure.

Revenue, mostly from offshore services in the oil-rich Gulf, shrank around 10 percent to $30 million.

“The results reflect the impact of the war in the Gulf. As announced in early March, we were instructed to evacuate the company’s four vessels in one of the GCC countries as a precautionary measure,” GMS said, adding that the incident halted operations in the unidentified Gulf state.

GMS and similar service providers in the region have seen their business suffer since the US-Israeli conflict with Iran erupted on February 28.

Damage to oil and gas facilities across the GCC is expected to run into tens of billions of dollars, according to an AGBI review of analysts’ projections.

The International Energy Agency estimates that 84 energy facilities across Iran’s Gulf neighbours were damaged in the first wave of attacks in March and April, including 34 that suffered “serious or very serious” damage.

GMS, founded in Abu Dhabi in 1977, said crews returned to the evacuated vessels in early April and it restarted operations on two ships a few days later, adding that it maintained its full-year 2026 profit forecast of $105 million to $115 million.

In January GMS acquired a new mid-class vessel, bringing its fleet to 15, serving the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and parts of Europe and Africa.

GMS listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2014. Its share price has lost about 10 percent in the year to date.

Further reading:

• War insurance premiums surge in the Gulf
• Iran formalises Hormuz ship approvals and transit tolls
• Risk repriced: how UAE-listed insurers are faring in the Iran war