Deepwater Atlas. Photo courtesy Sembcorp Marine
Singapore-based Sembcorp Marine (Sembmarine) delivered the world’s first 8th generation ultra-deepwater drillship, Deepwater Atlas, about five years after its original planned delivery.
The drillship was delivered to Transocean subsidiary Triton Atlas GmBH.
SembMarine claims Deepwater Atlas is the world’s highest specification drillship with well control capability of 20,000 psi, compared to 15,000 psi that is common among 7th generation drillships, which started entering service in 2015. Similar to 7th generation drillships, Deepwater Atlas can operated in 12,000 feet water depth and drill to depths of 40,000 feet.
Deepwater Atlas is the first of two ultra-deepwater drillships based on Sembmarine’s proprietary Jurong Espadon 3T design, featuring a 3,000,000 pound hook-load.
“We are very pleased to achieve the delivery of Deepwater Atlas and to set many record firsts in the process. It gives us great pride to have designed and built for Transocean, the world’s first eighth-generation drillship of the highest industry specification, complete with a three-million-pound hook-load and breakthrough capabilities for 20,000 psi drilling operations,” said Sembcorp Marine Head of Rigs and Floaters, William Gu.
Deepwater Atlas comes with leading-edge capabilities for enhanced operational safety, efficiency and performance. With capacity to accommodate a crew of 220, the drillship is designed and equipped to optimize fuel consumption and lower emissions.
“Sembcorp Marine’s continuous investments in innovation and technology development over the years have enabled the Group to move up the value chain to develop industry-leading designs and solutions,” said Mr Wong Weng Sun, Sembcorp Marine President & CEO. “We are very pleased to partner Transocean to raise the bar for the design and build of the next generation ultra-deepwater drillships.”
Transocean in 2021 said it secured a $252 million contract for the Deepwater Atlas to support BOE Exploration & Production’s (Beacon) Shenandoah deepwater oil and gas field development project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Transocean ordered Deepwater Atlas and a second drillship, Deepwater Titan, in 2014 for $1.24 billion with delivery originally planned in the 2017 and 2018. However, delivery of the rigs were delayed in 2016 following the crash of the offshore drilling market. In 2021, Transocean reached an agreement with Sembmarine on the delayed delivery and deferred payments of the drillships.
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