Semi-submersible Drilling Rig Sinks at DSME [INCIDENT PHOTOS]

The Deepsea Aberdeen, a semi-submersible drilling rig being built for Odfjell Drilling, sank at the DSME shipyard in South Korea on Saturday.

Up until its sinking at the pier, the Deepsea Aberdeen, a GVA7500-design semi-submersible was due for delivery in May 2014 and set to be relocated to the harsh environment West of Shetland on a long term contract for BP.  With an unknown amount of water damage, that schedule now appears questionable.

“The rig has sunk and lies on the seabed by the quay. It is not submerged,” said Tor Henning Ramfjord, chief executive of National Oilwell Varco Norway. Reuters reports that their were 38 Ramford employees on the rig at the time of the accident, according to Tor Ramford. All were safe, he said.

Update: The rig is currently sitting in a stable condition on the bottom next to the pier. The following images come from an anonymous gCaptain contributor.

This is a potentially significant setback for both Odfjell and BP as this particular rig had a 7-year, $1.2 billion contract attached to it.  Odfjell notes this is the largest contract they have ever been awarded.

There have been no reports of injuries associated with this accident.

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