Mermaid Maritime has spent $436m at China Merchants Industry to order two newbuild tender rigs and one dive support vessel to boost its subsea engineering and drilling capabilities.

The two drilling rigs will be delivered in the first and second quarters of 2016 while the dive support vessel will be delivered in the third quarter of the same year.

The price of each of the tender rig is $149m while the dive support vessel costs $138m.

Chalermchai Mahagitsiro, ceo of Mermaid, said the company is seeing sustained demand for offshore oil and gas services as the level of global exploration and production activity continues to trend upward.

“Our two drilling rigs, MTR-1 and MTR-2, are nearing the latter portion of their useful lives. The two state-of-the-art tender rigs we have ordered will enable us to operate at a higher level during a time in which customer preferences and hence day rates continue to favour newer equipment,” he said.

The newly ordered dive support vessel will be Mermaid's fourth such asset, adding to a fleet high in demand by oil majors in the Middle East and Asia, he added.

Mermaid's three existing dive support vessels are currently working in Indonesia, the North Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.

The purchases will be financed through a combination of cash raised from Mermaid's recently completed $176m rights offering and loans.