Company: HLX
Filing Date: 2025-04-02
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001140361-25-011655
Chunk: 43

Company: HELIX ENERGY SOLUTIONS GROUP INC
Filing Date: 2025-04-02
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 43
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 |     | 2025 Proxy Statement |     | Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. |

TABLE OF CONTENTS Compensation Discussion and Analysis

2024 Executive Compensation Components For 2024, the primary components of compensation for our NEOs consisted of:

| • | Abase salary |

| • | Ashort-term cash incentive opportunitybased on 2024 financial results and Sustainability-related KPIs |

| • | A long-term incentive award in the form of performance-contingentcliff-vesting PSUs |

| • | A long-term incentive award in the form oftime-vesting RSUs |

We use each element of compensation to satisfy one or more of our stated compensation objectives. The Compensation Committee’s goal is to achieve the appropriate balance between short-term cash incentives for achievement of stretch annual performance targets and long-term incentives to promote achievement of sustained value over the longer term. For 2024, each element of our executive compensation program—base salaries, target and maximum STI percentages, and long-term incentive awards—for each of our NEOs remained the same as it was for 2023. The following table sets forth the total target compensation awarded in 2024 for each NEO, broken out by base salary, STI target and target value of long-term incentive awards. Following that table is a more detailed discussion of each element of our NEOs’ 2024 compensation.

| Named Executive Officer |     | 2024 Base 
    Salary |     |   2024 STI 
     Target |     |  2024 Long-Term 
 Incentive Award |     | Total Target Direct 
        Compensation |
| Mr. Kratz               |     |  $800,000 |     | $1,200,000 |     |      $3,600,000 |     |          $5,600,000 |
| Mr. Sparks              |     |  $460,000 |     |   $460,000 |     |      $1,375,000 |     |          $2,295,000 |
| Mr. Staffeldt           |     |  $440,000 |     |   $440,000 |     |      $1,300,000 |     |          $2,180,000 |
| Mr. Neikirk             |     |  $400,000 |     |   $400,000 |     |        $950,000 |     |          $1,750,000 |

Base Salary Determination In establishing base salaries