James Fisher expands in Middle East with Murjan acquisition

Marine and oil and gas services provider James Fisher and Sons (JFS) has continued its expansion in the Middle East with the acquisition of Murjan Al-Sharq Marine Contracting (MSMC).

JFS said on Tuesday that the acquisition of Saudi Arabia-based MSMC would add nearshore marine construction and maintenance capabilities to JFS.

MSMC is a service provider with a ten-year track record of successful projects with Saudi Aramco.

Chris Clark, VP at MSMC, said: “I am looking forward to a promising future with JFS. The company is well positioned now, having recently deployed new marine assets from Damen shipyards for existing and upcoming projects. We will be performing marine services with the new fleet under the Saudi flag to support Saudi Aramco and Vision 2030.

“James Fisher has a very good track record in the Middle East and the merger means that together, we can build on the last ten years of development from MCSC to deliver well planned, multi-disciplined marine solutions to our clients.”

Paul Whiley, regional director for JFS in the Middle East, added: “This acquisition by JFS solidifies our expansion into the promising Saudi offshore sector. We have now combined our existing offshore capabilities with the nearshore strengths of MCSC to offer a truly unique range of services that will be capable of delivering complete project scopes to the main EPCs.”

The merger follows recent multi-million-dollar contract awards in the region. Namely, specialist marine and subsea services provider Subtech Group, part of James Fisher and Sons, won deals in November 2018 for work on the Safaniya and Manifa fields off Saudi Arabia.