DONG terminates Maersk rig early

Maersk Drilling’s jack-up rig the Maersk Resolve has finalized the planned work scope for DONG Energy at the Hejre field in the Danish sector of the North Sea and Maersk Drilling has therefore received a letter of early termination.

DONG hired the jack-up rig back in 2013 and the original contract was scheduled to end in January 2017.

The compensation under the early termination agreement leaves Maersk Drilling financially neutral to the original contract, the drilling contractor noted in a press release on Monday.

“We are all acutely aware of the difficult market situation we are facing in the offshore drilling industry, however, it is gratifying to see a rig like the Maersk Resolve and her crew outperform expectations and complete her work scope several months ahead of schedule for the complex HPHT development at Hejre,” says Head of Global Sales, Michael Reimer Mortensen and continues:

“The Maersk Resolve and her crew has delivered a great performance throughout the duration of the contract, and we aim to secure a new contract for the rig as soon as possible.”

Maersk Resolve is a high-efficiency jack-up built in 2009 and is designed for year-round operation in harsh environments and in water depths of up to 350ft. The rig is fully HPHT capable and prepared for Managed Pressure Drilling technology.

Earlier this year, DONG canceled the contract it had had with a consortium of Daewoo and Technip for the engineering and procurement of the platform for the Hejre field offshore Denmark. Technip disagreed with DONG and decided to defend its interests as arbitration proceedings on claims proceeded.