Name:	hlx_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentageAcquired
Namespace Prefix:	hlx_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Number Of Long Term Chartered Vessels

No definition available.

Name:	hlx_NumberOfLongTermCharteredVessels
Namespace Prefix:	hlx_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

Amount of distribution received from equity method investee for return on investment, classified as investing activities. Excludes distribution for return of investment, classified as investing activities.

No definition available.

Name:	hlx_ProceedsFromEquityMethodInvestmentDistributionInvestingActivities
Namespace Prefix:	hlx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001798&loc=d3e33918-111571

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 18
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126901519&loc=d3e8672-108599

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_SegmentReportingInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=hlx_WellInterventionMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=hlx_ProductionFacilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=hlx_IndependenceHubLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: