INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Provision for income taxes

The provision for income taxes consisted of:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015		2014
	(In thousands)
Other than U.S.:
Current	$	43,944		$	45,752	$	21,619
Deferred		(2,018	)		6,211		(1,546	)
Total provision for income taxes	$	41,926		$	51,963	$	20,073

Geographic Source of Income Before Provision for Income Taxes

The geographic sources of income before income taxes are as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
	(In thousands)
U.S.		(124,154	)		(99,738	)		(35,782	)
Other than U.S.		206,469			164,348			(1,691	)
Income before provision for income taxes	$	82,315		$	64,610		$	(37,473	)

Reconciliation of Panama Statutory Federal Tax Rate to Consolidated Effective Tax Rate

The following is a reconciliation of the Panama statutory federal tax rate to the consolidated effective tax rate:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
Panama federal statutory rate		25	%		25	%		25	%
Non-Panama operations		(14	)		29			9
Valuation allowance for deferred tax assets		24			10			(105	)
Audit settlements and reserves		14			9			17
Other (primarily tax on unremitted earnings)		2			7			-
Effective tax rate attributable to continuing operations		51	%		80	%		(54	)%

Significant Components of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

Significant components of deferred tax assets and liabilities were as follows:

	December 31,
	2016			2015
	(In thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Pension liability	$	9,732		$	12,033
Accrued liabilities for incentive compensation		22,208			21,640
Net operating loss carryforward		349,916			325,636
State net operating loss carryforward		18,308			24,367
Long-term contracts		-			4,312
Other		1,861			2,060
Total deferred tax assets		402,025			390,048
Valuation allowance for deferred tax assets		(334,991	)		(336,146	)
Deferred tax assets	$	67,034		$	53,902
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment		37,883			34,419
Prepaid drydock		1,367			7,639
Long-term contracts		10,989			-
Investments in joint ventures and affiliated companies		17,044			14,960
Unrealized exchange gains and other		3,335			3,163
Total deferred tax liabilities	$	70,618		$	60,181
Net deferred tax liability	$	(3,584	)	$	(6,279	)
	December 31,
	2016			2015
	(In thousands)
Deferred tax assets and liabilities in the accompanying
Consolidated Balance Sheets include:
Deferred tax assets	$	21,116		$	18,822
Deferred tax liabilities		24,700			25,101
Net deferred tax liability	$	(3,584	)	$	(6,279	)

Reconciliation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
	(in thousands)
Balance at beginning of period	$	36,353		$	34,106		$	40,613
Increases based on tax positions taken in the current year		2,328			4,720			3,479
Increases based on tax positions taken in prior years		7,741			4,710			3,195
Decreases based on tax positions taken in prior years		(5,090	)		(2,836	)		(863	)
Decreases due to lapse of applicable statute of limitation		(310	)		(4,347	)		(12,318	)
Balance at end of period	$	41,022		$	36,353		$	34,106