Siem Offshore’s former drillship picks up five-year extension

Overseas Drilling Limited (ODL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of offshore vessel supplier Siem Offshore, and Texas A&M Research Foundation have agreed a charter extension for the JOIDES Resolution scientific research vessel.

Siem Offshore said on Friday that the charter for the former oil exploration vessel was extended until September 30, 2024.

The JOIDES Resolution is a research vessel that drills into the ocean floor to collect and study core samples.

Scientists use data from the vessel to better understand climate change, geology, and Earth’s history. It is a part of the International Ocean Discovery Program and is funded by the National Science Foundation.

The ship was first launched in 1978 as a conventional oil exploration drillship named Sedco/BP 471. It was converted for scientific use in 1984 and began working as the main research ship for ODP in January 1985.

The JODIES Resolution was modernized during 2007–2008 and returned to active service in February 2009 following an extensive renovation of its laboratory facilities and quarters.

The 143-meter-long ship is a dynamically positioned non-riser drilling/coring vessel capable of operating in water depths of 7,000 meters, and with holes cored to depths of 2,000 meters below the seafloor.

This summer, the vessel will operate in the southeastern Pacific Ocean to investigate the history of oceanographic and hydrologic change along the northern margin of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and on the South American continent.

Until the end of the year, the vessel will also work in the Panama Basin and the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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