Maersk Drilling brings back another rig as new gig comes in

Maersk Drilling-owned semi-submersible drilling rig Maersk Deliverer has been awarded a new contract by JX Nippon with an estimated duration of 30 days.

Maersk Deliverer is the fifth rig that Maersk Drilling has reactivated from warm stacking within the past eight months.

The contract covers the drilling of one well and represents a continuation of Maersk Drilling’s activities in Southeast Asia by introducing one of Maersk Drilling’s deepwater assets to the region, the Danish driller said on Thursday.

“We see an increase in demand for deepwater rigs in the Southeast Asian market, and this is a great opportunity to get closer to deepwater customers in the region, like JX Nippon, and thereby enable them to fulfil their business objectives safely and efficiently,” says Lars Ostergaard, Chief Commercial Officer of Maersk Drilling.

The well is located offshore Malaysia, 160 km north-west of Kota Kinabalu at a water depth of 1200m. The contract is set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2017.

“The recent successful reactivation of Maersk Developer and now also Maersk Deliverer demonstrate our ability to meet the industry’s increasing demand for a safe and fast mobilization of drilling rigs,” Ostergaard concludes.

Since April last year, Maersk Deliverer has been warm stacked in Namibia, following an early termination of its drilling contract with Chevron. The driller said that the reactivation of the rig has already started, and the main work scopes will be carried out during its voyage to Malaysia.