Upturn In Gulf Spurs Acquisition

American Oilfield Divers Inc. (AOD) said that, in anticipation of improved demand in the Gulf of Mexico diving market, it has acquired the operating assets of Gulf Coast Marine Divers Inc., a medium-sized, privately held company, for an undisclosed sum.

AOD also announced that in separate transactions, it acquired two, four-point anchor boats from two separate owners, as well as diving and related equipment from Offshore Diving and Salvage Inc., a diving contractor currently in Chapter 7 liquidation.

"Based on several industry indicators, expectations are high that demand in the Gulf of Mexico diving market will steadily increase during the next several years," said George C. Yax, AOD's chairman of the board, CEO and president. "As a result, I believe these are timely acquisitions which will increase our capacity to serve our Gulf of Mexico customer base. We anticipate that the acquisition of Gulf Coast assets will produce a minimum of $3 to 4 million of revenue for AOD over the next nine months. We expect to employ most of the Gulf Coast's offshore personnel and look forward to working with them." Operating assets acquired from Gulf Coast Marine Divers include four-point anchor boat Four Po IV (renamed American Independence), diving support ves sel Sonya Maria (renamed American Scout), as well as misc laneous diving and marine con struction equipment.

The two four-point anchor boa acquired by AOD were the 220- (67-m) Seahawk Retriew (renamed American Constitution and 170 ft. (52-m) New Construction (renamed American Triumph Both vessels will operate in the Gulf of Mexico, replacing two ves sels in AOD's Gulf of Mexico fleet which will be positioned oversea for international opportunities particularly in the West Africain market.