Semi Submersible Rig News

Since the ballast water management system discussion started nearly two decades ago, a clear concern was the ability to fit new equipment on existing ships, placing a strain on both space and power. Last month we caught up with a few key suppliers to for their insights on market development.How many BWMS have you sold and installed to date?Maxime Dedeurwaerder, BIO-UV GroupLast year has proven to be the best on record, with roughly 200 BIO-Sea units delivered. All told, since we entered the ballast water market, we have about 700 units in service or pending commissioning.

Norwegian offshore drilling contractor Island Drilling has contracted Ecochlor to install their new EcoOne Container Unit on board the Island Innovator semi-submersible rig.Vidar Vik, Technical Section Leader at Island Drilling, said: "Our research in choosing a BWMS for the Island Innovator was a very difficult process because of the unique ballasting needs for offshore rigs. "We were interested in the EcoOne Container Unit because it was filterless, which allowed for a very simple installation…

Norwegian offshore vessel operator Siem Offshore has won a three-month charter for the 91-meters long AHTS vessel Siem Pearl in Ireland.The contract is with PSE Kinsale Energy Ltd, the Irish subsidiary of the Malaysian oil giant Petronas, which is currently working to decommission its Kinsale area fields off Ireland.The Kinsale area offshore gas fields in the Celtic Sea in July last year officially ceased production, after more than 40 years online. Production from the fields, between approximately 40 and 70km off the County Cork coast, began in 1978 and peaked in 1995.Siem Offshore's 2009-built Siem Pearl anchor handler will be supporting…

Tankers were entering and leaving Cheniere Energy Inc's Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas export plant in Louisiana despite draft limitations in the Sabine-Neches Waterway after a rig ran aground in the channel over the weekend.The U.S. Coast Guard said a large semi-submersible rig, called the Jasminia, drifted into and ran aground in the Sabine Bank Channel, limiting vessels entering the waterway to those with a maximum draft of 36 feet (11 meters).The waterway sits on the Texas-Louisiana border and connects the Gulf of Mexico to Cheniere’s Sabine and oil refineries in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas.That area is west of where two hurricanes—Laura and Delta—struck in recent weeks.

The U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday that a large semi-submersible rig drifted into and ran aground in the Sabine Bank Channel, limiting vessels entering the Sabine-Neches Waterway to those with a maximum draft of 32 feet (9.8 meters).The waterway sits on the Texas-Louisiana border and connects the Gulf of Mexico to Cheniere Energy Inc's Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant and to oil refineries in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas.That area is west of where two hurricanes struck in recent weeks. Nearby refineries are owned by Exxon Mobil Corp, Valero Energy Corp, Total SA, and others.The semi-submersible rig, called the Jasminia, drifted into the Sabine Bank Channel and ran aground on Friday, a Coast Guard spokesman said. The rig had housed offshore workers in the past.

Odfjell Drilling and Semco Maritime signed a contract for preparation and modification of Deepsea Stavanger rig prior to its start of a nine-month drilling campaign for Total in the harsh waters outside South Africa.The semi-submersible rig will complete a high docking (with thrusters on) in Semco Maritime’s rig yard at Hanøytangen, Bergen, in Q1 2020, said the  oil drilling, well service, and engineering company."The high docking enables for a minimized diving operation during antifouling of the hull and optimization of the time spent on seawater valve change,” said Managing Director of Semco Maritime Norway, Lars Jønholt Halvorsen.

Norwegian oil and gas company OKEA has secured the Odfjell Drilling-owned semi-submersible rig Deepsea Nordkapp to drill for upside opportunities within and surrounding the Draugen field offshore Norway.The drilling operation is expected to commence in Q4 2019.Deepsea Nordkapp will drill one infill pilot well in the Draugen field and one exploration well in the “Skumnisse” prospect, north-east of Draugen, both within the OKEA-operated PL093 license.Deepsea Nordkapp is a 6th generation dynamically positioned harsh environment and winterized semi-submersible drilling rig on a two-year lease to Aker BP. The rig is expected to commence drilling for Aker BP in May.

Maersk Drilling signed on semi-submersible rig Mærsk Deliverer with Eni for exploration well offshore Timor-Leste.Maersk Drilling and Eni JDPA 11-106 B.V. (Eni) as operator of the JPDA 11-106 Joint Venture have signed a one-well contract for the semi-submersible rig Mærsk Deliverer for exploration drilling in the Timor Sea.The estimated duration of the firm contract is two months, expected to commence in March 2019. The contract contains an option for an additional well with an expected duration of an additional two months.The Mærsk Deliverer is currently warm-stacked in Labuan, Malaysia, after completing a well programme in March 2018.

Rolls-Royce continues to develop its ship intelligence offerings to the market, and now introduces a pioneering new solution for Health Management of ship equipment.The technology is aimed at elevating the way in which customers manage and maintain the equipment and systems onboard their ships.Health Management is designed to provide ship operators with an unsurpassed level of understanding of the operational health and performance of all the machinery installations onboard.Developed by the Ship Intelligence team at Rolls-Royce, the latest development of Health Management uses ship data combined with advanced machine learning techniques.

Offshore driller COSL Drilling Europe as entered into an agreement with Tamarind Resources for drilling operations with Hai Yang Shi You 982 (HYSY 982) in New Zealand.Tamarind Resources owner of the Tui Field (PMP 38158) announced that it has entered into a contract with COSL Drilling Europe for the semi-submersible rig, HYSY 982 (HYSY 982 is the sister rig of COSLProspector). The contract consists of three firm wells, and options to extend the contract terms for up to one optional side-track development well and up to one optional exploration well, all to be drilled within the Tui permit. The drilling program is due to commence in Q2/Q3 2019.Ian Angell, CEO of Tamarind, commented:  "We are very pleased to announce that we have entered into this contract with COSL for the HSYS 982.

Semco Maritime has won the contract to upgrade the Floatel Victory accommodation rig. Following the upgrade, the rig will sail out to undertake a contract in the British sector of the North Sea for Maersk Oil UK. Floatel Victory, owned by Floatel International, is expected to call at the Semco Maritime rig yard at Hanøytangen, Bergen, at the beginning of June after expiry of current contract with BP. ”We are pleased that Floatel International has chosen us for the assignment. This is an important order for Semco Maritime’s rig yard at Hanøytangen.

Following the Letter of Intent signed by Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel FELS Limited, with Awilco Drilling PLC, Keppel has secured the contract to construct a mid-water semisubmersible (semi) drilling rig for harsh environment use worth about $425 million. As part of the transaction, Awilco has independent options to order up to another three similar rigs to be exercised within 12, 24 and 36 months respectively. The prices of the three additional rigs are subject to cost adjustments and will only be finalised and announced separately if and when the options are exercised. Scheduled for completion in 1Q 2021, the rig will be built to Moss Maritime's CS60 ECO MW design.

Statoil and its partners have contracted the West Phoenix rig for exploration drilling on the U.K. and Norwegian continental shelves from the summer of 2018. The contract is awarded to the two Seadrill companies North Atlantic Drilling UK Ltd. and North Atlantic Norway Ltd. The semi-submersible rig West Phoenix will first drill an exploration well for the Ragnfrid North license on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), followed by three wells on the U.K. Continental Shelf (UKCS). The rig has been approved by authorities for use both on the NCS and UKCS. “We needed a high capacity rig, because we will be drilling wells in high-pressure, high-temperature formations. We chose the Phoenix, which is a modern 6th generation dual-derrick rig.

The West Hercules semi-submersible rig has been contracted for drilling two exploration wells in the Barents Sea in 2018, and options to drill another five exploration wells. Statoil and the licence partners have signed a contract with North Atlantic Norway Ltd for use of the 6th generation West Hercules rig. The total estimated contract value is USD 15-20 million for the two permanent wells. Portrait - Geir TungesvikGeir Tungesvik, head of Drilling and Well in Statoil. Mobilisation and demobilization are included in the amount, but remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and other services will be charged extra. Planned drilling start is summer 2018. “We have chosen this rig because it is winterized and ready for use in cold waters.

Maersk Master and Maersk Mariner, Maersk Supply Service’s two first Starfish-class anchor handling vessels built in 2017, will be on contract with Quadrant Energy in Western Australia, commencing March 2018. Both vessels will support Quadrant Energy’s Phoenix South and Van Gogh drilling campaign which will initially cover three wells for a duration of 150 to 200 days. The highly modern and efficient vessels will be supporting Transocean’s semi-submersible rig DD1 with supply and anchor handling duties throughout the campaign. “Quadrant Energy is an important customer. We are excited about having our two new-built Starfish vessels, Maersk Master and Maersk Mariner, operating together on this programme.

Sembcorp Marine announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd (JSPL) has signed an agreement for the sale of the semi-submersible rig West Rigel (Rig) to a buyer at a price of US$500 million. Under the terms of the agreement, the Sale is subject to conditions precedent being met by both parties before the delivery of the Rig and the payment of the price. Once the conditions precedent are fulfilled, the buyer will take delivery of the Rig but the Rig will remain in the Company’s yard for certain works to be undertaken for reactivation. West Rigel was originally contracted by North Atlantic Rigel Ltd (NARL), a subsidiary of North Atlantic Drilling Ltd (NADL) and Seadrill Ltd. Both Seadrill Ltd and NADL have applied for restructuring under Chapter 11 in the United States.

Northern Drilling (NODL) announces the exercise of its option to purchase the semi submersible rig Bollsta Dolphin for a total consideration of USD 400 million. The Bollsta Dolphin is one of the world’s most sophisticated high-end floaters capable of operating in harsh environment areas and in ultra deep waters of up to 10,000 feet. The rig is currently under construction at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd (HHI) with expected delivery in January 2019. The Company has the option to take earlier delivery of the rig should favorable contracts with start-up prior to January 2019 be secured. NODL will make a pre-delivery instalment of USD 200 million with the remaining balance due at delivery.

A new entrant to North Sea decommissioning, Well-Safe Solutions was established by a group of oil industry stalwarts Alasdair Locke, Mark Patterson and Paul Warwick, setting out to provide a new approach to the safe and cost-efficient decommissioning of subsea wells. The new start company, which aims to attract £200 million ($260 million) in investment and create 400 new jobs, will offer a specialist well abandonment service. Well-Safe has secured funding from Scottish Enterprise…

Darlington based product manufacturer and global supplier of fire, blast and heat protection systems Mech-Tool Engineering Ltd (MTE) said it has delivered a fully certified ABS fire rated wall system for a Chinese turnkey EPC contractor in offshore construction. The company’s stainless steel A60 fire rated wall system will offer the ultimate protection to personnel on the deep-water semi-submersible rig, BT4000, should they need to use the evacuation lifeboats during an emergency.

LR CEO, Alastair Marsh, signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) during Singapore Maritime Week. The first promotes research and development (R&D) and innovation, building upon strong existing collaborations (e.g. enhanced understanding of cargo liquefaction to increase vessel stability and safety, extreme wave impact to optimize time and cost of semi-submersible rig design) and extending into big data and intelligent systems for real time condition monitoring, unmanned systems and robotics for operations…

SCHOTTEL has expanded its portfolio with the successful tests of the 5.5 MW SRP 800 U rudderpropeller, which can be installed afloat for vessels that cannot be docked easily due to their size or area of operation. Besides application in larger offshore vessels or rigs, the new and powerful SCHOTTEL thruster is suited for cable laying vessels, offshore construction vessels and crane ships. “As a result of customer requests, SCHOTTEL decided to further develop the robust, well-proven rudderpropeller technology in the power range up to 5.5 MW…

Following the accident involving COSLInnovator on 30 December 2015, some 100 semi-submersible rigs approved by DNV GL will be reviewed. Preliminary assessments indicate that a limited number of rigs will be subjected to modifications or operational limitations. The semi-submersible rig COSLInnovator was drilling for Statoil in the Troll field when it was hit by a large, steep wave. Several windows on the rig's two lower decks were shattered. One person was killed. “Since the incident, we have made great efforts to identify what happened, understand how this could happen and, most importantly, implement actions to prevent similar incidents from occurring again,” says Ernst Meyer, DNV GL Director for Offshore Classification.

Stena Drilling has selected Semco Maritime’s facilities at Hanøytangen for a warm stacking of the offshore drilling rig Stena Don. The rig will be warm stacked at the Hanøytangen yard in Bergen, ready for future work, explains Business Development Manager Øistein Tømte, Semco Maritime. Stena Don arrived at the yard November 16 and has previously been on a contract in the Troll field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Stena Don is a class 3 semi-submersible rig built in 2001, and has recently been upgraded with a modern equipment package.