‘North Dragon’ semi taking shape

China’s CIMC Raffles has launched the topsides of the North Dragon semi-submersible drilling rig.

According to the Yantai-based yard, this semi-submersible rig, once completed, will carry out operations in Norwegian North Sea and Barents Sea oil and gas fields.

The topsides was launched on Monday, January 12, 2015. Its lower hull was launched on October 30, 2014. The rig is being built for North Sea Rigs AS.

The rig, of the Global Maritime’s GM-4D design, will be built to operate in water depths of up to 500 meters and on drilling wells down to 8000 meters. It will be equipped with NOV-drilling package, DP3 and an 8-point mooring system.

The unit is designed to be able to operate in harsh weather conditions in the North Sea, Arctic environments and in the Barents Sea.