Quick Modification of Offshore Jack-Up Drilling Rigs

Bollinger Fourchon, LLC, a subsidiary of Bollinger Shipyards, demonstrated its ability to modify or repair offshore jack-up drilling rigs quickly and cost effectively, with three recently completed projects. One project, for R&B Falcon Drilling, Inc., involved the replacement of jet piping (which blows away sand and mud around the rig legs for easier movement) and the fabrication and erection of an interior bulkhead on the Cliffs 150 rig in just eight days. The other two nearly-identical projects involved Glomar Adriatic IX and Glomar Adriatic X, two Marathon LeTourneau Class 116-C jack-up drilling rigs owned by Global Marine International Drilling Corporation of Houston. On each rig, Bollinger, in conjunction with Marathon LeTourneau, lengthened the three legs from 410 ft. to 477 ft. Additionally, a wind wall was added around the drill floor, blow-out preventor trolley beams and a shale shaker trough were installed and the jet piping lines were extended.