Australia's largest offshore supply boat company MMA Offshore says the "enormous headwinds" facing the oil and gas vessel industry are expected to continue for "some time to come".

MMA (formerly known as Mermaid Marine Australia) has up to 50 vessels in its fleet supporting the oil and gas industry in Australia and Southeast Asia.

Its acquisition in early 2014 of Jaya Holding's vessels and two shipyards nearly doubled MMA's capacity.

However