Thailand-based, Singapore-listed Mermaid Maritime is looking into buying assets to meet growing demand from the oil and gas sector.

Mermaid Maritime chief executive Chalermchai Mahagitsiri said at a media briefing today that its current assets are fully utilised, with an order book amounting to US$650 million.

The subsea and drilling services provider is planning to build two tender rigs, to replace the two current ones that have been around for more than 30 years.

The company will also study the construction of a new jack-up rig.

On Wednesday, it reported that full year net profit for the period ended Sep 30 was US$15.7 million, 389 per cent more than the US$3.2 million earnings reported in 2012.

The improvement, said Mr Mahagitsiri, is attributed to the new management team in place in 2012, following a deal that saw his prominent family take a major stake in Thoresen Thai Agencies (TTA).

TTA owns 41.8 per cent of Mermaid Maritime, the largest shareholder of the firm.

Mermaid Maritime's shares closed 2.5 cents higher today at 42 cents.