Maersk Drilling’s first ultra-deepwater drillship, Maersk Viking, is en route to the US Gulf of Mexico after the rig contractor took delivery of the vessel from the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in Geoje-Si, South Korea.
The drillship is initially due to work for ExxonMobil in the GoM on a 3-year contract, and is the first in a series of four similar drillships to enter Maersk’s fleet. The quartet represent a total investment of US $2.6 billion and all are coming from SHI’s shipyard this year.
The dual derrick units have large subsea work and storage areas, with Maersk saying the design allows for efficient well construction and field development activities through offline activities.
The company added that special attention has been given to safety on board the drillships. Equipped with multi-machine control on the drill floor, the high degree of automation ensures safe operation and consistent performance. Higher transit speeds and increased capacity will also reduce the overall logistics costs for oil companies, it said.
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