History

Advanced Industrial and Marine Services, Inc. (d/b/a AIMS International) was founded in 1982 as a distributor to the offshore oil and gas industry for Fiber grate Corporation, a major fiberglass grating manufacturer. In 1984, AIMS landed another distribution contract from a major manufacturer of platform rendering systems to the offshore oil and gas industry, Teletype Monarch Rubber. Both were the basis for AIMS’ growth in size and name recognition.

The growth of AIMS in the mid-to-late 1980s and the early 1990s was fueled by the development of a means of attaching fiberglass grating to the areas of an offshore platform subjected to hurricane wave action. This attachment system, known as the Talon System, is an all-316 stainless steel system designed to resist the horizontal and vertical forces of a storm wave passing through a structure. The Talon System is still a primary product for AIMS today. The survival of AIMS’ fiberglass grating systems through Hurricanes Katrina and Rita speaks volumes of the systems capability.

In the late 1980s, AIMS began engineering, fabricating and installing structures using protruded fiberglass structural shapes, such as wellhead access platforms, vessel access platforms, stairs, and ladders. The product offering has grown considerably and, with the deep water projects of today yearning for the weight savings and corrosion resistance realized by using fiberglass structures in lieu of steel structures, this product is being utilized on many high-profile, deep water facilities.

Coupling the fiberglass grating with the fiberglass structural systems product offering has enabled AIMS to perform the complete revamping of many offshore platforms including the removal of rusted steel components (e.g., gratings, handrails, and stairs) and replacing them with fiberglass structural components.

In 1992, AIMS purchased the rendering product line from Teletype Monarch and moved the product manufacturing to Houston. The AIMS rendering systems are the most requested products of this type in the industry.

In 1997, AIMS began providing sub-sea insulation services for the deep water oil and gas industry. Sub-sea wellheads, flow lines, jumpers, valves, and other components often require thermal insulation to maintain the heat in the system. This insulation material must possess good thermal insulation characteristics and be capable of resisting the hydrostatic pressures exerted at depth. With the Troika project in 1997, AIMS insulated the very first deep water project in the industry.

Also during the late 1980s, AIMS supplied the first vortex streaks in the history of the Gulf of Mexico–that being for the Placid Green Canyon Project. Initially, AIMS began manufacturing vortex streaks for deep water steel catenary risers (SCRs) and drilling risers using a hand-lay-up fiberglass process, however AIMS has modified the manufacturing process for its VIV suppression product line to incorporate the molding of polyethylene.

AIMS is quickly becoming a major player in the field of VIV suppression in the offshore oil and gas industry. During the period beginning in 2004 through 2006, AIMS acquired full scale testing of its VIV suppression product line (streaks and fairings) and began participating in Deep star, an industry wide R&D project investigating the causes of and solutions to vortex induced vibration. In July of 2006, AIMS obtained full scale testing on its patented flow splitter, a more effective fairing design. Marketed as the ADFS, the AIMS Dual-finned Flow Splitter, this product design is the most efficient fairing in the industry. The product performs exceptionally well with an efficiency in excess of 95 percent at reducing amplitude (lateral motion due to VIV) and with an extremely low drag coefficient below 0.4. Further, the ADFS has shown to be extremely stable and does not gallop like the typical tear-dropped fairings.

Still pursuing the structural fiberglass industry, in August of 2000, AIMS partnered with others to form Delta Composites, LLC, a fiberglass grating manufacturer. This partnership has been very successful, spawning additional growth for both AIMS and Delta.

In April of 2006, AIMS acquired its ISO 9001:2000 certification in a QMS audit performed by Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

AIMS established an agreement with The H. J. Stauble Group, Limited, to provide AIMS products and services to the offshore oil and gas industry in the Trinidad area. Similar agreements are in the works for overseas markets such as Australia, West Africa, Norway and Southeast Asia. AIMS will continue to expand its operations where opportunities present themselves.