Ship Finance charters jack-up to Asian NOC

Oslo-listed company Ship Finance International Limited (SFL) has secured a contract for one of its jack-up drilling rigs with an unnamed national oil company in Asia.

SFL said on Thursday that the rig in question was the 2007-built drilling rig Soehanah. The jack-up will be employed under a drilling contract with an Asian NOC for a period of 12 months, with an option to extend the charter by an additional 12 months.

The rig was redelivered to SFL in April, following a full ten-year special survey paid for by the previous charterer Apexindo, and with certificates valid until 2022.

Apexindo, the former owner of the Soehanah jack-up, entered into a sale and leaseback transaction for the rig with Ship Finance International back in 2011.

The Indonesian drilling contractor agreed to sell the Soehanah for $151.5 million including a $5 million seller’s credit. The rig was chartered back to Apexindo for a term of seven years.

At the end of the bareboat, Apexindo had the option to purchase the rig for $70 million plus an amount equal to 25 percent of the excess of the charter-free fair market value over the option price but chose not to use it.

SFL added that the net EBITDA expected from the charter is approximately $4 million and that the rig was being mobilized with the expected startup of the drilling ops in the second quarter of 2017.

Offshore Energy Today Staff