On December 15, a new drillship owned by Etesco Drilling Services LLC., was delivered at Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.’s Geoje Shipyard in Korea. At the naming ceremony held on the day before the delivery, the drillship was named Etesco Takatsugu J. NYK director and managing corporate officer Hitoshi Nagasawa participated in the ceremony.
The vessel is now heading for the pre-salt fields off Brazil, where it will be chartered for a maximum of 20 years from February 2012 by Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. for ultra-deepwater exploration of the fields at water depths down to 10,000 feet (about 3,000 meters). This vessel, which has been equipped with an advanced drilling capability, is one of only 46 drillships in this high-end class (as of December 19).
Since 2006, an NYK Group company has been entrusted by JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) to operate its scientific drilling vessel Chikyu, and through this experience NYK has been able to accumulate advanced know-how on the operations of drillships. In fact, this drillship business falls within one of the strategic pillars provided in the NYK Group’s recently released medium-term management plan “More Than Shipping 2013” — i.e., to secure highly advanced energy-transportation business by taking advantage of the group’s technical capabilities.
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World Maritime News Staff, December 19, 2011; Image: NYK