Noble’s rigs and Kongsberg Maritime’s tech opening doors to drilling innovation

July 29, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Noble Corporation, a U.S.-based offshore drilling giant, has joined forces with Kongsberg Maritime, a Norway-headquartered marine technology player, to drive the creation of advanced marine technologies for the offshore drilling realm.

Noble Sam Croft drillship; Source: Noble Corporation

The duo has forged a strategic alliance to drive offshore innovation with the signing of a development program framework agreement, seen as a key step forward in the co-development of drilling innovation in marine technologies.

The partnership’s focus will be on the joint development, piloting, and commercialization of innovative solutions aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, risk assessment, and sustainability in offshore drilling operations.

Jouni Raatikainen, Executive Vice President Global Customer Support at Kongsberg Maritime, commented: “This agreement with Noble underscores our commitment to being a trusted energy transition partner.

“By working closely with forward-thinking companies like Noble, we can co-create technologies that not only improve performance and safety but also support the industry’s broader sustainability goals. Noble’s progressive approach and openness to innovation make them an ideal partner for this ambitious journey.”

The first pilot project under the Noble-Kongsberg Maritime agreement, slated to be launched later this year on the Noble Sam Croft drillship, is said to be setting the stage for a series of collaborative development programs.

Fusing Kongsberg Maritime’s marine technology portfolio with Noble’s deep operational expertise and modern fleet of 21-strong floater fleet is expected to create synergy and accelerate innovation cycles, delivering user-centric solutions that unlock new value for offshore operators.

This comes a month after the Norwegian firm unveiled a modular wind propulsion platform for newbuilds and retrofits, encompassing bulk carriers, tankers, boxships, roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels, cruise ships, as well as large yachts.

Noble has been a busy bee lately, with multiple new gigs secured. One of the firm’s rigs also drilled an oil and gas discovery in the Baltic Sea, which led the operator of Poland’s Wolin license block to describe the find as one of the largest conventional oil discoveries in Europe in a decade.