Judy Maksoud • Houston
Mærsk gets new jackup
Mærsk Contractors has taken delivery of the Mærsk Inspirer, a new ultra-harsh environment jackup rig built at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. in Korea. The new rig is identical to the Mærsk Innovator, which was delivered in 2003 and has been working in the North Sea.
According to Mærsk, the sister rigs are the largest and most advanced jackups in the world and are designed for operation in harsh environments, such as the northern part of the North Sea and Eastern Canada.
The Mærsk Inspirer is scheduled to arrive in the North Sea by the end of 2004.
"The new features and capabilities of these rigs have already proven their value as they have been put to good use on the Mærsk Innovator for our clients. The extended cantilever reach, the increased deck space and deck load and, not least, the improved efficiency of the Mærsk Innovator has made the entry into the market a great success. We are confident that the Mærsk Inspirer will be equally successful," says Tage Bundgaard, president of Mærsk Contractors.
BP awards follow-up job to Keppel
Keppel FELS Ltd. has delivered the main hull sections of the BP Shah Deniz TPG 500 platform to BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Ltd.
Following hull construction, the joint entity, Keppel FELS and Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) subsidiary, Caspian Shipyard Co., was awarded an additional $20-million contract to integrate the hull sections for the jackup platform in the Caspian Sea.
"CSC and Keppel FELS are participating with Technip and BP in the execution of this fast-track project," Choo Chiau Beng, chairman and CEO of Keppel O&M, says.
Tong Chong Heong, managing director and COO of Keppel O&M says the team excelled at coordinating its efforts. "To meet the contractual schedule, we had to start production while the detailed engineering work was still being carried out by BP's designer, Technip. This called for the project teams to be very innovative, flexible, and meticulous in the management of each phase of the project."
The four completed strips will be transported to the Caspian Sea where Keppel O&M's subsidiary, CSC, will integrate them in a floating dry dock in Baku, Azerbaijan.
A self-installing jackup drilling/production/quarters platform, the TPG 500 jackup, will be the first world-class gas-condensate drilling/ production platform in the Caspian Sea when it is completed in 3Q 2006. The jackup has a 90-m by 90-m footprint, an operational depth of 101 m, and production capacity of 900 MMcf/d of gas and 14.6 MMbbl per year of condensate.
Ulstein Verft builds construction vessel
Ulstein Verft AS has been tagged to build a construction vessel for Solstad/SBM, a joint-venture company owned by Solstad and Monaco's Single Buoy Moorings (SBM) group. According to Ulstein Verft, the project is one of the largest single projects the shipyard has gained so far and is worth around NKr650 million. The vessel will be delivered in January 2006.
Ulstein Verft AS has begun work on a new construction vessel that will be delivered in January 2006.
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The construction vessel will be one of the largest build projects at Ulstein Verft in terms of both weight and size. The vessel will measure 123.8 m long, have a width of 28 m, and will require 6,000 tons of steel. Vik-Sandvik is responsible for the design.
The construction vessel is equipped with a moonpool, anchor handling winches, an A-frame, and a heave-compensated 250-ton offshore crane. The vessel will be fitted out for 100 people.
The purchasing and planning phases of the project have begun, but the actual steel cutting phase will not begin until mid November 2004. Ulstein Verft's Vanylven division is going to build the superstructure, with a start-up date set for December. It will deliver sections through April 2005. The forepart and aft ship of the vessel will be built at Ulstein Verft's partner shipyard, Maritim Ltd., in Poland. The forepart will arrive at Ulstein Verft in Ulsteinvik in May 2005. The stern will arrive in July. Final delivery has been set for Jan. 20, 2006.
Sinvest to get another jackup
Norway's Sinvest ASA has exercised an option through a subsidiary of Deep Drilling Invest Pte. Ltd. with Keppel FELS Ltd. to build another KFELS Super B class jackup.
In February 2004, the Skeie Group entered into option agreements with two rig builders when it contracted the shipyards to construct a jackup each. One of rig builders was Keppel FELS, which offered its KFELS Super B class design.
"We have chosen to build another rig with Keppel FELS because the market interest in the KFELS Super B class jackup rig is strong," Bjarne Skeie, executive chairman of Sinvest, says.
"We have anticipated a growing demand for deep gas drilling jackups and have committed resources to develop the KFELS Super B design to meet this demand," Skeie says.
The KFELS Super B class rig can operate in water depths to 350 ft and can drill to 35,000 ft. It is fully high pressure/high temperature compliant and is designed for production drilling from new or existing wellhead platforms. The jackup's cantilever skidding system enables the well center to be moved within a 70-ft by 30-ft envelope with full set-back.
The new rig should be delivered in the fall of 2006.
