According to Rigzone, Gulf Capital has acquired, as part of a large investment consortium, a 21% stake in Maritime Industrial Services Co. (MIS) was acquired as part of a larger private placement that raised $80 million for MIS on the Norwegian over the counter (OTC) market. The private placement will enable MIS, which provides a fully integrated onshore and offshore engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction and shipyard service, to capitalize on the current boom in offshore oil explorations and allow it to enter in a major way into the rig manufacturing business. The current high demand for oil and gas has resulted in an unprecedented amount of offshore exploration activities and boosted worldwide offshore rig utilization to 86%, one of the highest levels ever.