Drillships News

Kongsberg Maritime has signed a development program framework agreement with Noble Corporation, marking a key step forward in the co-development of advanced marine technologies for the offshore drilling sector.The long-term strategic partnership will focus on the joint development, piloting, and commercialization of innovative solutions aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, risk assessment, and sustainability in offshore operations.The first pilot project under this agreement will be launched later in 2025 on the drillship Noble Sam Croft…

Noble Corporation’s recent decision to sell the Pacific Meltem and Pacific Scirocco for non-drilling purposes highlights a key issue in the drillship market: What happens to cold-stacked rigs that are unlikely to return to work? With the floater market showing signs of weakness and contract opportunities becoming scarcer, reactivating these units is proving even more challenging.Esgian Rig Values has adjusted its valuations since early 2025 to reflect these conditions, reducing 6th generation drillship values by approximately 12%…

The seventh generation Atlantic Zonda drillship, managed by Ventura Offshore Midco, has started operations for Petrobras under a three-year drilling contract.The Atlantic Zonda is managed by Ventura Offshore through marketing and operating agreements with the rig owner, Eldorado Drilling, and the company will earn its management fees and reimbursable revenues from these agreements.Following the delivery of the Atlantic Zonda from Samsung shipyards, contract preparations were carried out in Singapore…

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…

Offshore drilling company Valaris has taken delivery of newbuild drillships VALARIS DS-13 and DS-14 for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $337 million.VALARIS DS-13 and DS-14 will be mobilized from South Korea to Las Palmas in Spain, where the rigs will be stacked until they are contracted for work.The purchase of the rigs is expected to increase the company’s fourth quarter 2023 capital expenditures by approximately $355 million, representing the purchase price for the rigs and costs associated with preparing the rigs to mobilize from South Korea to Las Palmas…

China will on Friday conduct sea trials for its first ocean research drilling vessel, capable of drilling at depths of more than 10,000 meters (32,800 feet), a key step towards beefing up the country's deep-sea oil and gas exploration capabilities.It is China's first vessel capable of ultra-deepwater research and drilling, Chinese state media reported on Monday. It can travel 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometers) and operate for 120 consecutive days without returning to port.

Singapore-based shipbuilder Sembcorp Marine has delivered Deepwater Titan, the world’s second 8th-generation drillship, to Transocean subsidiary Triton Titan GmBH.Deepwater Titan is the second of two new 8th-generation drillships constructed by Sembcorp Marine based on the group’s Jurong Espadon 3T design. The dual-derrick drillship is the first-ever unit delivered with two 20,000-psi blowout preventers (BOPs), well-control, riser and piping systems for high-pressure and high-temperature drilling and completion operations.

The Metals Company (TMC), a company extracting battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, said Friday its subsidiary NORI had signed a non-binding term sheet with its strategic partner and shareholder, Allseas to develop and operate a commercial nodule collection system. The system has a targeted production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year of wet nodules and expected production readiness by Q4 2024.According to TMC, formerly knowns as DeepGreen Metals, polymetallic nodules contain high grades of nickel…

Classification society ABS said it has been selected to class a former drillship that is being converted to a subsea mining vessel.The industry-first project will see Allseas’ 228-meter Vitoria 10000, now renamed Hidden Gem, equipped with a deep-sea mineral collection system to recover polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor and transfer them to the surface for transportation to shore. The nodules contain high grades of nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt—key metals required…

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating damage to a Noble Corp drillship hit by Hurricane Ida while operating in the Gulf of Mexico, a spokesperson said on Thursday.Nine crew members suffered minor injuries when the storm hit on Sunday, Noble said. Workers were treated onboard and four were taken to shore for evaluation, Noble's vice-president for Investor Relations Craig Muirhead said in a statement.The U.S.

The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday it is responding to a drillship that reportedly sustained damage as Hurricane Ida ripped through the Gulf of Mexico and into Louisiana as a Category 4 storm.The agency said it was notified during the storm that the ultra-deepwater drillship Noble Globetrotter II had been damaged, and that it had been in touch with both the vessel's master and owner Noble Corporation since Sunday to gauge the extent of any damage and to ensure readiness of onboard lifesaving equipment.The Liberian-flagged drillship and its 100-plus crew are currently located 80 nautical miles south, southeast of Grand Isle, La. The vessel's U.S. licensed master has maintained that the drillship was not in distress and is not actively taking on water, according to the Coast Guard.

Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill said it has secured a four-year firm contract with four one year options for the West Saturn drillship with Equinor Brasil Energia Ltda for work on the Bacalhau field in Brazil.Total value for the firm portion of the contract, including mobilization, upgrades and integrated services, is expected to be approximately $380 million, with a performance bonus providing meaningful incremental opportunity, Seadrill said. The total contract value is contingent on the final investment decision (FID) by the partnership for Bacalhau.

Offshore drilling rig contractor Seadrill has filed for bankruptcy protection at a court in the U.S. state of Texas, it said on Wednesday, the second time in four years the company has entered into so-called Chapter 11 restructuring.The Oslo-listed group controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen returned to court along with several subsidiaries after failing to win consent from bank lenders to postpone payments on $5.7 billion of debts.Its total debts and liabilities…

A Turkish drillship has left the area where it was operating southwest of Cyprus and reached Turkey's coast for maintenance in a move the European Union said would help ease tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.Refinitiv tracking data showed the Yavuz vessel reached shore and the Energy Ministry said it would now prepare for work in a new location.EU member Cyprus' internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government has long been at loggerheads with Turkey over the demarcation of maritime waters and other issues. Turkish vessels began drilling for oil and gas near Cyprus last year.EU leaders last Friday assured Cyprus the bloc would punish Turkey if it continues drilling in disputed Mediterranean areas…

Swiss-based offshore contractor Allseas said it has acquired an ultra-deepwater drillship for conversion to a polymetallic nodule collection vessel.In partnership with deep sea mining company DeepGreen Metals Inc., Allseas is developing a deep-sea mineral collection system to recover polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor and transfer them to the surface for transportation to shore. The nodules contain high grades of nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt—key metals required…

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.

South Korean Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) reported its third-quarter net loss of 583.2 billion won (US$ 503.8 million), compared with a KRW80.30 billion loss in the same quarter a year earlier, staying in the red compared with a year ago.The loss widened sharply in the wake of a cancelled shipbuilding deal. Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Co. (MODEC) was recently selected as the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit supplier for the Barossa Project in Australia. The FPSO part of the project alone is estimated at US$1.5 billion.Earnings were also hurt as Transocean Ltd. (RIG) said in September a pair of its…

Singapore firms Keppel Corp and Sembcorp Marine said on Monday they had reached settlements with indebted Brazilian firm Sete Brasil over long-standing contracts to build drillships and rigs.Sete, which leased oil rigs to Brazil's state oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), filed for bankruptcy protection in 2016 after being engulfed in a massive corruption scandal.Keppel and Sembcorp Marine are among a host of firms caught up in the wide-ranging "Car Wash" investigation.

U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a seventh week in a row as producers follow through on plans to cut spending on new drilling this year.Drillers cut 3 oil rigs in the week to Oct. 4, bringing the total count down to 710, the lowest since May 2017, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday.In the same week a year ago, there were 861 active rigs.The oil rig count, an early indicator of future output…

Turkey will launch a second drilling vessel on Thursday that will begin natural gas operations near Cyprus at the beginning of July, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez was quoted as saying on Tuesday.Turkey and the internationally recognized Cypriot government have overlapping claims of jurisdiction for offshore oil and gas research in that part of the Mediterranean, an area thought to be rich in natural gas.Ankara already has a ship, called Fatih, in the region. Donmez was quoted as saying by state-owned Anadolu agency that the vessel was continuing to drill in a field to the west of Cyprus."Our second ship is about to be ready. We will send off our drill ship Yavuz on Thursday…

Cyprus has issued arrest warrants for the crew of a Turkish drill ship anchored close to its coast for allegedly infringing territory over which the island has rights to explore for oil and gas, a foreign ministry official said on Thursday."We can confirm that warrants were issued. It's a double digit number," the Cypriot official said, declining further comment.Turkey said on June 10 that reports of the arrest warrants -- which had at that point not been confirmed by Nicosia -- "crossed the line".The two countries have been at odds since the 1974 ethnic conflict that split the island between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations…

Classification society DNV GL reports it has signed a contract for the first Cyber Secure class notation with Stena Drilling. The contract covers the application of the “Basic+” notation to the drillship Stena IceMAX and includes the vessel’s dynamic positioning, drilling and blowout prevention systems (BOP). It will be integrated with Stena Drilling’s own safety management systems.“Being cyber secure is an important step towards ensuring the digital integrity of our vessels, making sure that we take all the necessary safety precautions for our personnel and systems…

The deepwater drilling contractor Seadrill said that its contract backlog, as of May 23, 2019, totaled approximately $1.9 billion.The drilling services provider said it has added $130 million of additional backlog from March, including the AOD I award of a three year follow on contract with Saudi Aramco keeping the unit employed until June 2022, which adds approximately $82 million in backlog.In addition, Equinor exercised two options for the West Hercules in Norway adding approximately $17 million in backlog. The unit is expected to be employed until the first quarter of 2020.The West Telesto was awarded a six firm plus two option well contract in Malaysia.