Mermaid's wholly owned subsidiary Subtech Ltd. has entered a joint venture agreement with General Technologies & Systems (Gentas), a subsidiary of Shoaibi Group and Saudi Trading & Research (Starc), to form Subtech Saudi Arabia Ltd. (Subtech S.A.). Subtech S.A. will be 70% owned by Subtech Ltd. and 30% owned by Gentas.

Subtech S.A., which will be based in Al Khobar, intends to provide diving and offshore marine services to the oil and gas industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its territories. The deal marks another milestone for Mermaid and brings it closer to expanding its presence and business in the Middle East and Persian Gulf through providing services to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's oil and gas industry. Subtech Ltd. is an International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) approved contractor certified by all the major classification societies.

Subtech Ltd. will have available for Subtech S.A. a range of diving and sub-sea offshore services including dive intervention (air & saturation) for both inshore and offshore operations, salvage operations, subsea installations, repairs, inspection and maintenance. Subtech S.A. will also offer, through Subtech Ltd. and Mermaid's other wholly owned subsidiary Mermaid Offshore Services Ltd., saturation diving systems, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and dynamically positioned (DP) dive support vessels.

Khalid Al Shoaibi, Chairman of Gentas and appointed Chairman of Subtech S.A., said, "We are pleased to enter into this joint venture with Subtech and expand Gentas' range of marine offshore services to the offshore oil and gas industry of Saudi Arabia. The venture will enable us to seek successful business opportunities by capitalizing on Gentas' strong local presence and Subtech's extensive international expertise."

Paul Whiley, Managing Director of Subtech Ltd., said, "We are confident that this joint venture will accelerate our expansion into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Subtech's intention was to partner with an existing local entity that has an established stronghold in the market, and Gentas fits the role perfectly."

Tags: Mermaid Maritime Public Mermaid Limited