High-value projects from prestigious companies ensure that Sharjah-based Maritime Industrial Services Company (MIS) will be busy for some time.

The company, a regional leader in the oil and gas construction and services industry, is contracted for the supply and construction of two firm and two optional Friede & Goldman Super M2 design offshore jackup drilling rigs. The order, announced in May, was received from Orion International Drilling Services Ltd, which ordered the rigs with enhanced specifications including five Caterpillar 3516 main generators, 50 ft diameter oversized spud cans, two National Oilwell HEX pumps and other enhancements.
 Orion is an independent drilling contractor committed to providing its customers with the best, most innovative and cost-effective drilling solutions available, with offices in Dubai, Doha, and Singapore.
The rigs will be delivered after the third quarter of 2009. The contract price for the rigs is $157.8 million each and the rigs will be supplied by MIS to Orion on a turnkey basis. MIS will dedicate two of the 30,000 ft National Oilwell Varco drilling packages that it had ordered at the end of 2006 to these rigs to ensure their deliveries. MIS will build and deliver the rigs from its Sharjah fabrication and shipyard facility.
The order came in the wake of two rigs already under contract for Mosvold Jackups Ltd and the recently awarded 1+1 order from the joint venture headed by KS Energy. 
Jerry Smith, MIS managing director, said MIS had established itself as the offshore jackup drilling rig builder of choice in the Middle East and hoped to secure many more projects in the future."
Earlier, in April, MIS announced it won a $148 million contract to supply and construct one firm and one optional Friede & Goldman Super M2 design offshore jackup drilling rig. It received a $5 million deposit towards the down payment milestone for the firm rig.
The order was received from a newly established joint venture company made up between KS Energy Services Ltd with 50 per cent equity, Amwal Al Khaleej Commercial Investment Co Ltd (a Saudi Arabian private equity company) with 40 per cent equity and MIS with 10 per cent equity.
Delivery of the rig will be 30 months from the effective date of the contract or around the third quarter of 2009.
The rigs will be supplied by MIS to the JV company on a turnkey basis. MIS will dedicate one of the 30,000 feet National Oilwell Varco drilling packages that it had ordered at the end of 2006 to the first rig to ensure the delivery in 2009. It will build and deliver the rig from its Sharjah-based fabrication facilities and shipyard.
This deal followed a contract MIS received from Ras Al Khaimah Gas Commission (Rakgas) for the construction of the Atlantis Gas Plant. The value of the order was placed at $16 million. The announcement of the contract was made in March.
The company will construct the second train gas processing facilities at the existing Rakgas plant site at Khor Khwer, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.
This new plant will process 90 million standard cubic cu ft of gas from Umm Al Qwain offshore gas reserves being developed under a long-term agreement between Rakgas, a wholly owned RAK Government Company and Atlantis Holding Norway AS (Atlantis)
MIS will supply piping bulk materials and undertake multi-disciplinary construction of the new facilities which will receive, dehydrate, sweeten compress and deliver the processed gas to local consumers.
MIS scope involves site clearing, civil works, foundations, installation of equipment and skid-mounted process packages, mechanical, piping, electrical, instrumentation and commissioning assistance.
The contract is estimated to be concluded by December 2007.
Among contracts MIS completed recently was the fabrication, load out and delivery of three large column vessels for Italian client Snamprogetti.
The vessels were built for installation in the NGL3 plant of Gasco at Ruwais. The largest of the three vessels, a de-ethaniser, measures 65 m in length and weighs 960 tonnes.
"These are the biggest and region," said Ian Anderson, MIS' business development director. "The vessels, which took 15 months to construct, were completed on schedule and to the full satisfaction of the client."
Gulf Capital, as part of a large investment consortium, acquired a 21 per cent stake in MIS late last year.
Gulf Capital's stake, which positioned it as the largest shareholder in MIS, was acquired as part of a larger private placement that raised $80 million for MIS on the Norwegian over-the-counter (OTC) market.
The private placement has enabled MIS, which provides a fully integrated onshore and offshore engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction and shipyard service, to capitalise on the boom in offshore oil explorations and allow it to enter in a major way the rig manufacturing business.
MIS was established in 1979 as a services company for drilling rig fabrication, repair, and maintenance.
It later expanded its customer base and scope of services to offer fabrication, construction, engineering, and procurement services and diversified into operations and maintenance contracts.
In 1985 MIS acquired the assets of an American safety services company, which later became the MIS Sunbelt H2S, Fire and Safety Services Division. MIS moved its fabrication yard and base to a Sharjah Port facility in 1986 to perform larger onshore construction projects, and to support major offshore construction contractors.
At the turn of the millennium, MIS commenced activities in Saudi Arabia in a joint operating company with AYTB and the Shoaibi Group. MIS and its partners acquired and re-opened the former fabrication facilities of Austrian Energy Arabia in Jubail.
MIS-Arabia is currently an approved contractor and supplier to local companies including Saudi Aramco, Sabic, Saudi Consolidated Electric Co and Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) and international contractors such as Bechtel, Linde, Amec, McDermott and Technip.