Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). And we will take our first question from James West with Lehman Brothers.
James West - Lehman Brothers
Hey good morning guys. Joe, you've done a great job of moving assets out of the Gulf of Mexico. We're down to, I believe, 14 OSVs now; you've got two more leaving in June I believe those are going to Mexico. How many additional of that 12 that would be left could actually leave the Gulf and go into international markets?
Joe Compofelice
That's a very good question, because as you know there's places like Mexico, there's now age restrictions. You leave the US waters, you have to move to what's called a solace certificate.
I would say five more would be my guess out of those 12 could be moved to other markets where we are operating. The number would probably be higher if we went to some other places, but as you know, we don't want to spread ourselves too thin. So, the markets we're in are the markets we're going to focus on. But I'd say five more.
And frankly, I expect those to be moved, roughly, by the end of the year. It's got to be a combination of what the customers need, how the markets are going, spending the money not all at one time. But I would say by the end of the year, five out of those 12 are going to be gone. And on a higher ticket, on a better contract outside the US.
James West - Lehman Brothers
And then at that point, does it make sense to divest the other seven or so that would be left?
Joe Compofelice
Well, let me answer it this way. With only seven vessels left in the Gulf of Mexico, doing supply work as opposed to anything we might win on our new builds, and doing subsea services work, but of course, that's not under the Jones Act. I would say that's an awkward number of vessels to have in a market like this.
James West - Lehman Brothers
Okay, understood. And then Joe, the day rates for the Gulf assets have been starting to move up in here. What's the delta on day rates from the, I guess, the bottom that we saw during the winter months and where leading-edge rates are now?
Joe Compofelice
We have Tomas Salazar on the line. He's in a different location than I am. Tomas, can you give Jim the answer to that? I guess he didn't hear me. Geoff is sitting here with me. I would say from -- it would be in the $6,200 -- $6,500 range. Some of the vessels got down to, in the low part of the cycle, which would have been last summer, to $7,500?
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