Sevan Drilling has taken delivery of the Sevan Louisiana drilling unit from Cosco Quidong Shipyard in China. This is the Norwegian company’s third deepwater drilling rig and will likely be in transit to the US Gulf of Mexico by the time this appears in print.
Expectation is that the Sevan Louisiana will start on its maiden contract working for US independent LLOG Bluewater towards the end of Q1 next year, following completion of mobilisation and the addition of further equipment.
The value of the three-year drilling contract, signed with LLOG in April, is estimated at approximately $550million.
Mobilisation and operation of the Sevan Louisiana will be managed by Seadrill, which recently became the marketing agent for the whole Sevan Drilling fleet.
The Sevan Louisiana, capable of drilling in water depths to 3,048m (10,000ft) will use its own engines during the transit to the US Gulf of Mexico, assisted by a towing vessel.
The rig is of a Sevan’s innovative fat, cylindrical hull design that makes the rig less sensitive to weather conditions when working, though passage making requires an escort, as already indicated.
Linked with the delivery of Sevan Louisiana, the company has also closed and drawn $1.4billion of its new $1.75billion bank facility as announced on July 23.
The draw-down has been used to repay and settle the existing bank facilities related to Sevan Driller and Sevan Brasil and to settle the remaining instalment and other payables to the rig’s builder, Cosco.
The company’s other rig, under construction at the Chinese shipyard, is 70% complete. Expected delivery is Q2 next year.
Sevan’s CEO, Scott Kerr, said he was optimistic the rig would have a contract by the end of the year. He said a desired location would be Brazil, where the company already has two rigs drilling for Petrobras.
However, since Seadrill is now running the marketing, there are various possibilities for where the rig might go. As for charter expectations, Sevan expects to secure a dayrate of $500.000 for the unit.
While the Chinese company’s Quidong yard has made a successful third delivery with the fourth apparently on schedule, the Dalian yard is struggling with the delivery of a drillship to Dalian Deepwater Development.
The order for the $500million rig was secured by Cosco’s Dalian yard in July 2010.
However, it has emerged that the rig’s owner served a notice dated August 5 to the Dalian yard to terminate the contract based on alleged grounds of delay in the delivery of the vessel, the construction of which is substantially completed.
On September 5, Dalian Deepwater Development submitted a request for arbitration in London in which the shipowner claimed for a refund of the first instalment paid on the contract . . . $110million . . . together with other advances paid to the yard, together with interest thereon, damages and interest thereon, indemnity for future losses, further or other relief and costs.
On October 7, Dalian Deepwater Development rejected Cosco Dalian’s without prejudice proposal to settle the matter.
The yard has intimated that it has appointed legal advisers in London in relation to the arbitration and is responding to the request for arbitration accordingly.
Meanwhile, as the row between the parties rumbles along, several potential buyers had expressed interest in the DP3 class drillship.
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