SINGAPORE (Mar 9): Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), through its subsidiary Keppel FELS, has secured an order with Awilco Drilling for the construction of a repeat mid-water semisubmersible drilling rig for harsh environment use, worth about US$425 million ($577 million).
This follows the exercise of an option by Awilco under the earlier contract entered into between Keppel FELS and Awilco for a similar rig. As part of that transaction, Awilco has independent options to order up to another two similar rigs to be exercised in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
The rig will be built to Moss Maritime's CS60 ECO MW design and is scheduled for completion in 1Q22. Similar to the first rig, it is specially designed, configured and outfitted for mid-water operations in water depths up to 1,500m and able to work in the harshest environments of North West Europe, including the Barents Sea.
When completed, the drilling rig will have a low environmental footprint and be able to operate in harsh environments, including the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the UK Continental shelf and the Barents Sea. Equipped with a hydraulic hoisting system capable of two million pounds of lifting capacity, it also features an optimised 12 point thruster assisted mooring system for vessel station keeping, complete with hybrid power supply and energy saving features.
Sigurd E. Thorvildsen, Chairman of the Board of Awilco Drilling, says, "We have exercised the first of our three options because we see growing demand for such mid-water, harsh environments rigs in North West Europe... The progress on the first rig has been exemplary and we look forward to receiving this second rig with the hallmark Keppel quality, reliability, timeliness and safety."
Since 2000, Keppel O&M has delivered 25 semisubmersible rigs.
See also: Keppel wins 20-year centralised cooling systems contract for Tengah BTO projects
Keppel O&M is a wholly-owned company of Keppel Corporation whose share price closed 9 cents lower at $6.10 on Friday.
