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The most technologically advanced drillship in the world is not on lovaton in the gulf of mexico or in a Korean shipyard. Actually it’s not even built yet. Meet the Aurora Borealis, a dynamically positioned, drillship/icebreaker, arctic research vessel designed for the European Union. The official website tells us;

The Research Icebreaker AURORA BOREALIS will be the most advanced Polar Research Vessel in the world with a multi-functional role of drilling in deep ocean basins and supporting climate/environmental research for the next 40 years.

The new technological features will include azimuth propulsion systems, satellite navigation, ice-management support, deep-sea drilling under a closed sea-ice cover and the deployment and operation of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) from one of the two moon-pools.

The unique feature of the vessel is the drilling rig, which will enable sampling of the ocean floor down to 5000 m water depth and with 1000 m penetration into the seafloor at the most inhospitable places on earth. The drilling capability will be deployed in both polar regions and AURORA BOREALIS will be the only vessel worldwide to undertake this type of scientific investigation.

Technical Details:

• Powerful icebreaker with ca. 55 MW (diesel-electric)
• Highest classification for icebreakers
• Twin hull
• Two moon pools 7 x 7 m each
• Dynamic Positioning System
• Deep-sea drilling under a closed sea-ice cover
• Drilling rig: max. 5,000 m water depth and 1,000 m core
• Riserless drilling technology
• Modularized mobile laboratory systems - mission specific laboratories
Length over all ca. 180 m | Beam ca. 40 m | Personnel (crew + scientists) 120 | Expedition duration 60 days.

For more information on the Aurora Borealis visit the official website HERE or download the presentation HERE. For the oceanography geeks a more detailed study can be found HERE.

UPDATE: The BBC has just run an excellent article on this vessel which can be found HERE.

Note: This article was originally posted in Jan 08

The shipping industry is currently the most profitable segment of the market with exploratory driling heading the way. The woldfleet of drillships alone will double in the next four years and this does not including countries with much larger plans. From seaman to CEO, if you are not connected to the offshore industry is some way you are missing out on the gold rush. Just make sure you call us before showing up late

Stena drilling has announced plans to build an ice capable drillship. Rigzone tells us:

Stena Drilling is delighted to confirm its order for a new drillship at Samsung Shipyard in Korea at an estimated total delivery price of US $1.15 billion. The vessel will be “ice classed” with additional hull thickness. This order will bring its total fleet to eight units. The existing Stena fleet consists of four semi-submersibles, which are active offshore Norway, Great Britain, Angola and Australia, plus three drillships one of which is operating offshore Brazil and the other two are still under construction at Samsung Korea, but have contractual commitments when delivered.

While arctic exploration is not new to the offshore industry and this design is certainly not the most interesting or potentially dangerous it does appear to be the most expensive of the (now) 26 drillships currently being built worldwide.

You can view photos of here sister ship’s being built HERE and on the company’s website HERE.