Fred Olsen Energy ASA announced today that one of their wholly owned subsidiaries has entered into a turnkey, $700 million contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. for the building of a harsh environment ultra deepwater semi submersible drilling rig.
Once built, this rig will measure 123 m in length and 96 m in width and be the largest semi-submersible drilling rig in the world.
The new drilling rig will be a Moss Maritime CS 60 E design and is designed for water depth capacity up to 10,000 feet. The unit will be fully compliant with Norwegian Continental Shelf requirements, and is designed for year-round operations in the Norwegian Barents Sea. Further, the rig is specially designed for safe and efficient drilling and completion operations for the full water depth range.
Another subsidiary for Fred. Olsen Energy ASA has been granted an option from Hyundai for the purchase of a similar second drilling rig exercisable within October 2012.
Delivery is scheduled for March 2015.
The Deepwater Nautilus semi-submersible drilling rig was built by Hyundai Heavy in 1999 for Transocean. This rig is 9 meters shorter, and 18 meters narrower than the rig ordered today by Fred Olsen.
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September 23, 2025
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