Maersk Drilling closes Giant rig sale

Danish offshore drilling contractor Maersk Drilling has completed the sale of its jack-up rig Giant – formerly named Mærsk Giant – to the LOTOS Petrobaltic Group.

Mærsk Giant was delivered in 1986, and upgraded in 2012. Maersk Drilling entered into an agreement to sell the jack-up rig Mærsk Giant to “an Australasian-based independent O&G operator” in November 2018.

The drilling contractor said on Friday that the new owners would use the rig for drilling solely in the Baltic Sea, for jobs involving the LOTOS Petrobaltic Group and other contracting parties.

“After reviewing different options, we believe that a sale of Giant creates the highest shareholder value. The rig was built in 1986 and the sale is part of our fleet optimization in line with our strategic priority of maintaining a fleet of modern, high-quality assets,” says CFO Jesper Ridder Olsen of Maersk Drilling.

Maersk Drilling will recognize a single-digit USD million pre-tax gain on the sale.

The Mærsk Giant is one of the ultra-harsh environment jack-ups in Maersk Drilling’s fleet. The rig is fully equipped for high pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) drilling and is designed for year-round operation in the North Sea, in water depths up to 107 m (350 ft) with an available leg length below the hull of 132 m (435 ft).

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