In August, the WorkBoat Composite Index lost 26 points, or about 1%. For the month, losers topped winners 14-11.

The top percentage loser for the month was Gulf Island Fabrication. Its stock price dipped 21% in August. This despite posting a second-quarter net income of $528,000, after reporting a $1.6 million loss a year earlier.

The Houma, La.-based fabricator of structures for the energy sector said it is continuing to wind down its shipyard segment, which it sold last year. Revenue for the segment in the second quarter 2022 was $3 million, a decrease of $200,000 compared to the second quarter 2021. Revenue for both quarters was related entirely to the division’s 70-vehicle ferry for Texas and two 40-vehicle ferry projects for North Carolina. Operating loss for the segment was $1.4 million for the second quarter 2022, compared to an operating loss of $1.1 million a year earlier. Results for the second quarter 2022 included legal fees of $1.2 million associated with the company’s MPSV dispute.

“We continue to make progress towards an efficient and safe wind down of our shipyard operations,” Richard Heo, president and CEO, said during the company’s Aug. 9 earnings call.

“Overall, we remain focused on completing our remaining shipyard obligations and we now expect to complete the wind down of the shipyard business by the end of the fourth quarter upon delivery of the final North Carolina ferry and Texas ferry. Once complete, we look forward to focusing our time and energy on profitably growing our remaining businesses.”

David Krapf has been editor of WorkBoat, the nation’s leading trade magazine for the inland and coastal waterways industry, since 1999. He is responsible for overseeing the editorial direction of the publication. Krapf has been in the publishing industry since 1987, beginning as a reporter and editor with daily and weekly newspapers in the Houston area. He also was the editor of a transportation industry daily in New Orleans before joining WorkBoat as a contributing editor in 1992. He has been covering the transportation industry since 1989, and has a degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego, and also studied journalism at the University of Houston.