Gulf Capital has announced the floatation of Maritime Industrial Services (MIS) on the Oslo Main Bourse in Norway.

MIS is a Sharjah-based yard heavily involved in the construction of jack-up rigs. These rigs are in short supply in the region and around the world, with existing rigs being pushed to capacity and day-rates on the rise. The company's ability to compete for contracts has been enhanced by Gulf Capital's investment. It recently secured a US $148 million contract for a Friede & Goldman Super M2 offshore jack-up rig. The project took the company's order backlog to over US $400 million.

"MIS can deliver the rig in June 2009," said Ian Anderson, business development director for MIS. "The earliest other yards in Singapore and the US are quoting 2010 and 2011."

Gulf Capital is the largest shareholder in MIS and will retain an interest of 22.52% following the listing.

Dr. Karim El Solh, CEO of Gulf Capital, said: "We are delighted about the successful floatation of MIS, the first Gulf company to go public in Norway."