The company booked an EUR 253m ($339m) gain in the first half, a 51% year on year increase.

It came as revenue climbed by over one fifth  to reach EUR 1.55bn.

The Dutch shipping group saw the results in all of its three segments rising sharply.

Peter Berdowski, chief executive of the company, said: “We have posted a historically high result in the first half of 2014 and this result is partly thanks to the strategic choice we made to broaden our focus on offshore.

“Contribution