Two drilling rigs located offshore Newfoundland, Canada have disconnected from their respective wells ahead of incoming icebergs.
According to a tweet by The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board, dated April 27, as a precaution, the Henry Goodrich and West Aquarius rigs have safely disconnected from their wells due to approaching icebergs.
The Henry Goodrich, owned by Transocean, is a Sonat /Mitsui SES 5000 design propulsion assisted semi-submersible drilling unit capable of operating in harsh environments and water depths up to 2,000 ft using 18 ¾” 15,000 psi BOP and 21 in OD marine drilling riser. It was built in 1985. The rig is currently on a contract with Suncor.
The West Aquarius drilling rig, owned by Seadrill, is a GVA 7500 design, sixth generation semi-submersible DP3 unit built in by DSME in South Korea in 2009. The rig can operate in harsh environments up to 3,000 m (10,000 ft) water depth. The rig is currently working for ExxonMobil.