UAE’s Maritime Industrial Services (MIS) has announced the award of several rig refurbishment projects worth more than US$25 million. This brings MIS’ total rigs at the yard to 10, five of which are refurbishment projects and five new-build offshore Jackup drilling rigs currently under contract, the largest number of rigs MIS has ever had.
MIS will carry out refurbishments for extending certification to upgrading and testing work for a umber of international clients, including Transocean, Thule Drilling ASA, Ensco International and Hercules Drilling. The added workload has contributed to a firm backlog of over $520 million.
“While our efforts were recently focused on filling the new-build order book, we have in parallel maintained our strategy of supporting our more traditional business activity, namely, rig refurbishment work as this further highlights MIS’ unique position which spans a number of business lines,” said Jerry Smith, managing director, MIS.
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The work on all rigs is currently taking place at both of MIS’ quayside yards in Port Khalid. With work on the five new-build rigs already in progress, MIS’ 200,000 m2 yard space has witnessed its largest ever line-up. This increase is indicative of the growth in the GCC rig refurbishment market, with the majority of rigs today in the region of 25-30 years old.
