Ocean Monarch, a 5th Generation semisubmersible drilling rig, Image courtesy Diamond Offshore
Houston-based Diamond Offshore (NYSE:DO) announced Tuesday that a subsidiary has ordered a moored semi-submersible rig from Singapore’s Jurong Shipyard for approximately $370 million.
The rig, to be named the Ocean Apex, will be capable of operations in water depths up to 6,000 feet. The rig will also be designed with a variable deck load of 7,000 long tons, a maximum hook-load capacity of two million pounds, a 15K five-ram blowout preventer, crew quarters capacity for 140 personnel, and a deck area Diamond says is among the largest of any semisubmersible rig in the world.
“We continue to see significant opportunities for moored deepwater units, as evidenced by the contract recently awarded to the Ocean Onyx, our other deepwater semisubmersible currently under construction,” said Larry Dickerson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Offshore. “This project marks the continuation of Diamond’s ongoing fleet renewal program, which includes four ultra-deepwater drillships and now two deepwater semis currently on order.”
“We will construct the Ocean Apex utilizing an existing hull from a Diamond Offshore cold stacked unit. Upon delivery, we will have a rig that exceeds the specifications of a fourth-generation newbuild unit; however, it will have been constructed in approximately half the time and for a significantly lower cost. This addition to our fleet is consistent with Diamond Offshore’s long-term strategy of enhancing our fleet at attractive capital costs.”
Expected delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2014.
Diamond Offshore’s rig fleet currently consists of 30 semisubmersibles, seven jack-ups and one drillship, in addition to four ultra-deepwater drillships and two deepwater semisubmersibles currently under construction.
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