Atwood Oceanics has entered into a turnkey construction contract with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) to construct a fourth ultra-deepwater drillship at the yard.

The drillship will be named the Atwood Archer, and is expected to be delivered from the DSME yard by 31 December, 2015 at a total cost, including two blowout preventers (BOPs), project management, drilling and handling tools and spares, of approximately US $635 million.

Upon delivery, the Atwood Archer will become the seventeenth mobile offshore drilling unit owned by Atwood.

The design of the Atwood Archer will be identical to the previously ordered Atwood Advantage, Atwood Achieve and Atwood Admiral drillships. All are DP-3 dynamically positioned, dual derrick ultra-deep drillships rated to operate in water depths of up to 3,658 m (12,000 ft) and drill to a well depth of up to 12,192 m (40,000 ft).

This order comprises the execution of an option that was set to expire on 30 June, 2013. Atwood has also secured an option to construct a fifth drillship at a similar cost to the Atwood Archer and with an expected delivery in September 2016, and which requires exercise by 31 March, 2014.

At this time, says Atwood, it has not decided whether to exercise the option.