Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has clinched a US$1.03 billion order to build two new deepwater drillships for Houston based offshore oil and gas drilling contractor Noble Corporation. The agreement also includes an option Noble can exercise to order two additional drilling vessels of the same class.
The ships to built at HHI’s Ulsan shipyard in South Korea and measuring 229 metres in length and 36 metres in width with a maximum drilling depth of 3.6 Km, are scheduled to be delivered by September 2013.
Drillships built by HHI are equipped with a thruster canister. The canister, the housing for the thruster, helps to improve performance and efficiency because the ships do not need to be drydocked for repairs. Instead, the thruster can be lifted onto the ship through the canister to allow access, HHI claims.
“We believe the fundamentals of the global ultra-deepwater market will continue to be strong in the decade ahead,” said David Williams, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Noble Corporation. “These units, capable of meeting the industry’s most stringent operating requirements, further support our continued commitment to increasing the technological and operational capabilities of our fleet. Furthermore, the previously announced Letter of Intent from Shell for one unit reduces the speculative risk and enhances future shareholder value.”
The rigs are based on a Hyundai Gusto P10000 hull design and are designed for operations in waters of up to 12,000 feet, although either may be outfitted for less depending on specific contract requirements. The units will have DP-3 station keeping abilities, the ability to handle two complete BOP systems, a heave compensated construction crane to facilitate deployment of subsea production equipment and accommodations for up to 200 personnel, in addition to a number of other operational enhancements beyond the shipyard’s base specifications.
HHI said that it had won a US$590 million turnkey contract for a drillship for another Houston based operator, Diamond Offshore Drilling in early January. HHI is said to have won contracts for all the three deepwater drillships ordered in the global shipbuilding market so far this year.
