Semi Submersible News

Partners CY Shipping and BigLift Shipping have ordered two new heavy transport vessels (HTVs), increasing their HTV fleet to six vessels.The first vessel, owned by CY Shipping will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025, while the second vessel, owned by BigLift Shipping, is schedule for delivery in second quarter of 2026.Newbuilding contracts for the two new HTVs have been signed with Jing Jiang Nanyang Shipbuilding in China. The vessels, jointly designed by CY Shipping and BigLift Shipping…

Esgian reports various drilling contractors disclosing details of discussions with Saudi Aramco regarding jackup contract suspensions in its Week 14 Rig Analytics Market Roundup. These contractors include Shelf Drilling, ADES, Borr Drilling, Arabian Drilling, COSL, and ARO Drilling.Meanwhile, Transocean, Noble, and COSL rigs have firmed up new work in the US Gulf of Mexico, Suriname, and the North Sea, respectively.Report overview:ContractsShelf Drilling has received a notice of suspension of operations on four jackup rigs from a customer in the Middle East.

Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark has unveiled Prowler, its new autonomous, amphibious, and semi-submersible military craft engineered to meet the current and near future warfighting requirements of the U.S. military and its allies. The company is also debuting Frenzy, a high-performance, low-cost, amphibious micro-USV (uncrewed surface vehicle) with a payload carrying capacity of up to 14 pounds.“Prowler represents the sum total of everything we’ve learned while building 400-plus autonomous and remote operated vessels for our military customers over the past decade…

Singapore-based Seatrium has secured a series of major contracts for vessel repairs, upgrades and conversions, set for completion by the end of 2025.With an aggregate value of S$350 million ($259 million), the contracts have reinforced Seatrium’s reputation as a one of the market leaders in vessel repairs, upgrades and conversions.The diverse range of complex contracts secured by Seatrium Repairs and Upgrades include the upgrades and conversions of Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRU)…

Esgian reports shifts in demand in its Week 13 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report overview:ContractsADES has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from PTTEP Energy Development Company Limited for an 18-month jackup drilling contract in the Gulf of Thailand. Operations are expected to begin in the second half of 2024, with an unspecified jackup.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesThe Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Aker BP a drilling permit for an exploration well in…

Esgian reports fresh finds confirmed in Guyana, China and Norway in its Week 12 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDolphin Drilling has announced the award of a $154 million drilling contract from India's exploration and production company, Oil India Limited (Oil India), to the 6,000-ft semisub Blackford Dolphin.Malaysian offshore drilling firm Velesto confirmed Friday it had recently secured long-term contract extensions for three of its jackup rigs with Petronas Carigali…

Dutch marine services firm Boskalis has completed its activities in support of the development of Ocean Winds’ 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland.As part of its multidisciplinary role in the project, Boskalis deployed six vessels to carry out large number of activities off the east coast of Scotland in the Moray Firth.First, Boskalis’ wholly-owned subsidiary Gardline carried out extensive geotechnical and geophysical survey works prior to the installation work.Then…

Esgian reports that drilling contracts have been announced this week for operations in Brazil and the Philippines, and new discoveries have been confirmed in the UK and Namibia in its Week 11 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsCOSL Drilling has emerged as the winner for Petrobras' moored semisubmersible tender with the 4,600-ft Nanhai 8 (also known as Nan Hai Ba Hao).Noble has secured a high-dayrate drillship contract with Prime Energy in the Philippines.Drilling Activity and…

Dutch shipbuilding conglomerate Damen Shipyards Group announced it has signed a contract with BOA Group for two ASD Tugs 3010 ICE. Due to Damen’s practice of constructing vessels in series for stock, the tugs were already under construction at the time of order and will be delivered later this year.BOA’s fleet consists of specialized offshore vessels, semi-submersible barges and harbor tugs. The order for these two Damen tugs is a part of the Norwegian company’s strategic fleet…

Esgian reports rig-related updates from Dolphin Drilling, Diamond Offshore, and Seadrill in its Week 9 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDespite Tullow Oil’s recent announcement that it would take a break from drilling offshore Ghana, Noble Corp. has stated that there has been no contract termination announcement and that its 12,000-ft drillship Noble Venturer is currently still contracted to Tullow into March 2025.Masirah Oil Ltd has signed a rig contract with…

Russia said on Saturday it had repelled an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on Russian "civilian transport ships" on Friday evening in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, a key artery for grain and oil exports from both countries.Civilian vessels on the Black Sea have not generally been targeted since Moscow ordered its troops into Ukraine in February 2022, but last July both sides said they would start treating ships headed to the other's ports as potential carriers of military cargo.In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app…

Offshore drilling contractor Stena Drilling has taken delivery of its 7th generation Stena Evolution ultra-deepwater drillship from Samsung Heavy Industries.After a decade in the making, Stena Evolution drillship has finally been completed and is ready for its first job.The technologically advanced drillship is capable of operating at water depths of up to 12,000ft (around 3,500 meters) and drilling depths up to 40,000ft (over 12,000 meters).The drilling unit utilizes riser storage in hull to offer extensive deck space with a 24…

Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.

This week Esgian’s Week 50 Rig Analytics Market Roundup notes developments in the semisub sector including that Shell has decided to exercise its option on Stena Don in the North Sea but not on Deepsea Bollsta in Namibia. Meanwhile, a new contract for the Transocean Barents will see it operate in the Black Sea, and jackup Shelf Drilling Perseverance will move to Vietnam.ContractsShelf Drilling has secured a contract award for the 400ft Shelf Drilling Perseverance jackup rig with PetroVietnam Domestic Exploration Production Operating Company Limited (PVEP POC).

Australian regulator NOPSEMA has begun assessment of Woodside Energy’s environment plans for Julimar Development Phase 3 Drilling and Subsea Installation.The Julimar field is located in Western Australian waters about 170km north-west of Dampier.Woodside’s Phase 3 development will involve drilling up to four wells in the Julimar field and one well in the Penfolds prospect, along with the associated subsea installation. The production system will have a design life of 25 years…

Esgian has published its Week 49 Rig Market Roundup highlighting new drilling activity in the North Sea and a new licensing deal in Morocco.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesSerica Energy is continuing with plans for its four-well drilling campaign in the UK North Sea, scheduled for 2024 and early 2025. The campaign will be carried out using the semisubmersible COSLInnovator. All four wells are production wells. The first well in the campaign will be a sidetrack of an existing well (B1z) on the Bittern field.

Esgian has published its Week 48 Rig Market Roundup highlighting that new contract awards were revealed for a Velesto Drilling jackup, two Seadrill drillships and a Dolphin Drilling semisub. Meanwhile, Wintershall Dea is planning to drill a new carbon storage well in Norway.ContractsMalaysia’s Velesto Drilling has agreed on an extension of a contract with Carigali Hess Operating Company for another year and six months.Seadrill has secured a short-term contract for 12,000ft drillship West Vela in the US Gulf of Mexico with QuarterNorth Energy…

DNV secured partners to launch a new project to enhance technology development and prepare for scale/industrialization of concrete substructures for floating offshore wind.The new Joint Industry Project (JIP) called Concrete FLOW will optimize requirements for concrete floaters (floating or semisubmersible structures, generally moored to the seabed, used as foundations upon which equipment can be mounted), specifically tailored for floating offshore wind farms.At the kick-off…

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has, following a recent private placement, become a shareholder in Odfjell Oceanwind, a Norwegian floating wind technology developer."The transaction generates significant capital which will be used to further strengthening Odfjell Oceanwind’s position as a global leader and frontrunner in floating offshore wind technologies. Odfjell Technology Ltd. combined with the Odfjell family’s direct investment will remain the largest shareholder in the company…

COSCO shipping claims a new record for the heaviest tonnage and largest volume of a single piece of cargo carried.The record came with the smooth departure of the deepwater drilling platform, Deep Blue Exploration, transiting from Singapore to China on the 80,000-ton semi-submersible ship Xin Yaohua operated by COSCO Shipping Special Transport.CNOOC's Deep Blue Exploration platform is the world's first drilling platform independently designed and built by in China to obtain DNV’s smart certification.

SAL Heavy Lift said Friday it had chartered two modern semi-submersible deck carriers, the “Zhong Ren 121” and “Zhong Ren 122” on a long-term basis together with its partner Shanghai Salvage (China). "Both ships will be delivered in Shanghai between December 2023 and February 2024 and marketed through the Jumbo-SAL Alliance," Sal Heavy Lift said.“We don’t use the term ‘milestone’ lightly – but, in this case, it’s more than appropriate. This project is extremely important to us as a group, both commercially and strategically,” says Dr Martin Harren, CEO of SAL Heavy Lift and the Harren Group.

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a 50-year-old man from a deepwater construction vessel approximately 35 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana, Monday.Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a call at approximately 4:58 a.m. from the operating manager of the vessel requesting assistance to medevac a passenger experiencing chest pain.Watchstanders then coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew to assist.The aircrew arrived on scene…

Varamar DMCC has entered into a strategic commercial partnership with ASL Shipping & Logistics Pvt Ltd, a COSCO Shipping Group company,  with the aim of helping both companies to strengthen their respective trades.Varamar, a liner and tramp carrier that specializes in breakbulk, dry-bulk, oversized, and containerized cargo, has historically focused on trade lanes connecting Europe with the Middle East, Asia, and the Far East, while also trading to Africa and the Americas. The recent expansion of Varamar to 10 international branches…