Quarterly Financial Information (Summary Of Consolidated Quarterly Financial Information) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013		Sep. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2013		Mar. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012		Sep. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2012		Mar. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 226,837,000	[1]	$ 220,117,000	[1]	$ 232,178,000	[1]	$ 197,429,000	[1]	$ 201,696,000	[2]	$ 217,110,000	[2]	$ 197,461,000	[2]	$ 229,842,000	[2]	$ 876,561,000	$ 846,109,000	$ 702,000,000
Gross profit (loss)	71,164,000	[3]	69,457,000	[3]	67,497,000	[3]	52,567,000	[3]	(108,925,000)	[4]	57,919,000	[4]	28,438,000	[4]	72,483,000	[4]	260,685,000	49,915,000	149,683,000
Net income (loss) applicable to Helix:
Income (loss) from continuing operations	36,503,000		44,549,000		27,240,000		557,000		(99,679,000)		10,362,000		2,425,000		16,874,000		108,849,000	(70,018,000)	34,718,000
Income (loss) from discontinued operations			44,000		(29,000)		1,058,000		(71,888,000)		4,503,000		42,216,000		48,853,000		1,073,000	23,684,000	95,221,000
Net income (loss) applicable to Helix	36,503,000		44,593,000		27,211,000		1,615,000		(171,567,000)	[5]	14,865,000	[5]	44,641,000	[5]	65,727,000	[5]	109,922,000	(46,334,000)	129,939,000
Basic earnings (loss) per common share:
Continuing operations	$ 0.35		$ 0.42		$ 0.26		$ 0.01		$ (0.95)		$ 0.10		$ 0.02		$ 0.16		$ 1.03	$ (0.67)	$ 0.33
Discontinued operations							$ 0.01		$ (0.69)		$ 0.04		$ 0.40		$ 0.46		$ 0.01	$ 0.23	$ 0.90
Net income (loss) per common share	$ 0.35		$ 0.42		$ 0.26		$ 0.02		$ (1.64)		$ 0.14		$ 0.42		$ 0.62		$ 1.04	$ (0.44)	$ 1.23
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share:
Continuing operations	$ 0.35		$ 0.42		$ 0.26		$ 0.01		$ (0.95)		$ 0.10		$ 0.02		$ 0.16		$ 1.03	$ (0.67)	$ 0.33
Discontinued operations							$ 0.01		$ (0.69)		$ 0.04		$ 0.40		$ 0.46		$ 0.01	$ 0.23	$ 0.90
Net income (loss) per common share	$ 0.35		$ 0.42		$ 0.26		$ 0.02		$ (1.64)		$ 0.14		$ 0.42		$ 0.62		$ 1.04	$ (0.44)	$ 1.23
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Held-for-use									158,000,000		4,600,000		14,600,000					177,135,000	6,564,000
Impairment of Oil and Gas Properties																		138,600,000
Discontinued Operations [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Net revenues							48,800,000		110,100,000		119,100,000		149,900,000		178,100,000
Gross profit (loss)							28,200,000		(102,600,000)		27,800,000		64,800,000		89,200,000
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share:
Impairment of Oil and Gas Properties									$ 138,600,000

[1] Excludes revenues from discontinued operations of $48.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

[2] Excludes revenues from discontinued operations of $178.1 million, $149.9 million, $119.1 million and $110.1 million for the quarters ended March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31, 2012.

[3] Excludes gross profit from discontinued operations of $28.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

[4] Excludes gross profit from discontinued operations of $89.2 million, $64.8 million, $27.8 million and $(102.6) million for the quarters ended March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31, 2012. Includes impairment charges totaling $14.6 million in the second quarter of 2012, $4.6 million in the third quarter of 2012 and $158.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 (Note 2).

[5] Our net loss in the fourth quarter of 2012 includes a $138.6 million impairment charge associated with the sale of ERT (Note 3).