The super-drillship Platinum Explorer is on track for delivery from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), South Korea in November, according to Vantage Drilling.
The Houston company says the vessel is to mobilize to India and kick off a five-year charter with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at a day-rate of some $590,500.
Vantage says that the Platinum Explorer, the company’s first newbuild drillship, is now 100% owned since previous stake owner Taiwan Maritime Transport was bought out in July.
The unit was built by DSME to its own design and will be followed by a second vessel of the class. It is being built for Taiwan Maritime and will be named DragonQuest.
Delivery is expected during Q3 next year when it will come under Vantage Drilling management for the duration of its eight-year maiden charter with Petrobras of Brazil.
The sisters are equipped for ultra-deep work. They are designed to operate in water depths to 3,657m (12,000ft) and to drill wells to a total depth of 12,192m (40,000ft).
While Vantage has to wait a few weeks more, Rowan Drilling has just taken delivery of the second of a batch of four super jack-ups from the Keppel AmFELS yard in Brownsville, Texas.
EXL-2, a LeTourneau Super 116E class jack-up, is expected to start out working offshore Trinidad for three years under contract with BP.
Welcoming the new rig into the fleet, David Russell, president of Rowan Drilling Companies, said: “We continue to see a strong demand for higher-specification jackups worldwide.
“The Rowan EXL rigs, built to distinction with Keppel AmFELS’s experienced project management and production capabilities, solidly augment our premium fleet.
“Once again, we are pleased with Keppel AmFELS’s repeat delivery of a rig with the highest standards in quality and safety. We have every confidence that the Rowan EXL-2 will do very well when it is in full operation.”
Construction for the Rowan EXL-2 began in April 2008. Built as an enhancement of the LeTourneau Super 116E design with leg lengths of 156m (511ft) and a capable hook load of 2million pounds, the ABS-classed rigs employ the latest technologies to enable the drilling of high-pressure, high-temperature, and extended-reach wells in jackup markets throughout the world.
The class is capable of operating in 106m (350ft) of water or more and drilling to a depth of 10,668m (35,000ft).
Keppel AmFELS is currently constructing two other similar newbuild jackup rigs for Rowan. The construction of these rigs is said to be progressing well and is within schedule and budget.
Meanwhile, Atwood Oceanics has named its latest semi-submersible rig Atwood Condor. The ultra-deepwater unit is scheduled for delivery from Jurong Shipyard by mid-2012.
The Condor is an ExD Millennium class ultra-deepwater DP semi-submersible with a 3,000m (10,000ft) water depth capability.
It is being kitted out with a six-ram blowout preventer (including three shear rams, high-pressure shearing capacity, and enhanced subsea energy for activating subsea functions), high-torque top drive providing 1million pound rotating hook load, low-emissions engines, efficient pipe-handling and subsea tree-running equipment, and accommodation for 200 personnel.
Atwood Condor will be the 11th rig in Atwood’s worldwide fleet.