Offshore staff
SINGAPORE– Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. through its subsidiary in Azerbaijan, Caspian Shipyard Co. (CSC), says that it is on track to deliver a semisubmersible drilling rig to Caspian Drilling Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR).
The rig was recently namedHeydar Aliyev at a ceremony in Azerbaijan by Ilham Aliyev, the country’s president.
Built to Keppel FELS’ proprietary DSSTM 38M design, the rig is said to have been customized for theCaspian Sea’s harsh environment.
It is the first modern semisubmersible to be almost completely built in Azerbaijan. CSC undertook the fabrication, integration, testing, and commissioning of the rig while its sister yard,Baku Shipyard (a joint-venture yard between Keppel and SOCAR), fabricated the pontoons. In Singapore, besides providing the engineering, procurement and technical support, Keppel FELS also fabricated the columns and bracings which were shipped to Baku through the narrow Volga Don canal.
Equipped with well control piping, BOP handling and foundations rated for 20,000 psi, the DSSTM 38M will be the first shallow-water semisubmersible to have the capabilities to drill in expanded areas of Azerbaijan.
It is able to work at a drilling depth of up to 40,000 ft (12,192 m) and operations in 3,281 ft (1,000 m) water depth. Designed to be fully moored, the rig will be able to stay in position via an eight-point wire rope mooring system.
Jointly developed and owned byKeppel’s Deepwater Technology Group and GustoMSC, the DSSTM 38M design is an enhanced design of the successful DSSTM 38 rigs that are operating in Brazil.
05/19/2017
