Post-sanctions Iran is turning out to be the brightest of several bright spots for offshore spending, which is good news for crisis-stricken shipowners, subsea players and oil services companies.

The offshore sector is in the midst of its worst downturn in three decades, stemming from a huge oversupply of ships and directly from the earlier crash in oil prices, which slammed the brakes on exploration-and-production (E&P) spending.

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