HARKAND is investing more than £19 million in its fleet of remotely operated vehicles (ROV) for the subsea oil and gas sector and creating 30 new jobs.
The firm will up its Aberdeen staff from 161 people to 176 with a further 15 posts being added across its Asia Pacific operations to help service the new vehicles.
The business is increasing its ROV fleet by just over 25%, taking the total from 23 to 29, as it expects there to be growth in the underwater inspection, maintenance and repair markets.
An order has been placed with Forum Subsea Technologies to supply ROVs.
Two are being delivered to Aberdeen with the remainder to be deployed on projects in Singapore, Australia and West Africa.
ROVs are typically operated by a person on board a nearby vessel and are connected to the surface via an umbilical cable.
Harkand chief executive Nicolas Mouté said: "This significant investment reflects our strong commitment to grow as a market-leading [inspection, repair and maintenance] contractor worldwide and ensures we have the necessary people and equipment in place to meet the existing and planned requirements of the company."
David Kerr, managing director of ROV and diving contractor subsidiary, Harkand ISS, said: "We are already experiencing a strong order book for the year ahead.
"Investing in reliable, powerful and high-performance assets that develop our global ROV capabilities allows us to continue delivering a premium service to our customers as they operate in some of the most challenging oil and gas provinces in the world."
Harkand was formed in February through the merger of Iremis, Integrated Subsea Services and Andrews Survey.
The company is backed by US-based asset management firm Oaktree Capital Management.
At its launch Harkand outlined an ambition to grow to $1 billion (£653m) turnover in five years.
Along with Aberdeen it has bases in Dubai, Singapore and Perth, Australia employing 750 people.
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