Rowan Companies plc has exercised its option to build a fourth GustoMSC P10,000 design ultra-deepwater drillship with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (HHI), with delivery scheduled in March 2015.

The cost for this rig, including commissioning, project management and spares, but excluding capitalized interest, is estimated to be approximately $620 million.

Rowan plans to equip its drillships with 2,000 ft (609 m) of additional riser to enable operations in water depths up to 12,000 ft (3,657 m) upon delivery. Each drillship will also be equipped with a second BOP for minimizing non-productive time.

The company will also incur operational training and personnel ramp-up costs in readying the drillships to commence well operations. Expected costs for the additional riser, BOP and training and ramp-up costs will be approximately $75 million.

The agreement with HHI also includes an option for a similar fifth drillship exercisable in the fourth quarter of 2012, for delivery in the third quarter of 2015.