Seatrium New Energy, a subsidiary of the Singapore-headquartered Seatrium Limited – formerly Sembcorp Marine Ltd before the merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited – has handed over the second of three newbuild jack-up rigs to the UAE’s ADNOC Drilling. This is in line with the drilling giant’s fleet expansion strategy to meet ADNOC’s production capacity targets.
These three rigs were initially part of a series of five rigs that Keppel FELS was building for Borr Drilling. Keppel and Borr delayed deliveries of these rigs first in June 2020 and then in January 2021, which resulted in the deferral of the rigs’ scheduled delivery to 2023. These rigs were supposed to be delivered progressively with the first delivery in May 2023 and the final delivery in December 2023.
However, Keppel O&M entered into an amended agreement with Borr Drilling and certain of its subsidiaries in October 2022 to, among other things, accelerate the delivery of three jack-up rigs to Borr Drilling – or a third party to whom Borr Drilling intended to sell the rigs – between October 2022 and July 2023.
Since then, the construction contracts for the three rigs have been novated by Borr Drilling to ADNOC Drilling. The first of three rigs was delivered to the UAE player in November 2022. Following the completion of the business combination of Sembcorp Marine Ltd and Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd on 28 February 2023, Sembcorp Marine unveiled the name change to Seatrium Limited in April 2023.
According to Seatrium, it has now delivered its second jack-up rig, named AlSila, to ADNOC Drilling, and the rig was completed and delivered on schedule. Built to KFELS B Class design, the rig is capable of operating in water depths of over 400 feet, with the ability to drill to depths of up to 30,000 feet.
Furthermore, the rig is also equipped with an advanced and fully-automated high-capacity rack and pinion elevating system, in addition to a self-positioning fixation system that has the capacity to accommodate 150 persons with full amenities.
“These series of jack-up rigs built at Seatrium’s Pioneer Yard in Singapore are specifically designed to meet the needs of a diverse range of customers, from small and independent oil companies to major multinational energy corporations. Their arrivals have the potential to boost the offshore drilling industry’s efficiency and productivity,” outlined the Singapore player.
The company further highlights that a total of nine proprietary legacy rigs are currently contracted for deployment in the Middle East region since 2022. Seatrium underscores that the KFELS B Class family of designs are high-quality legacy rigs with a strong track record, having proven their robustness and efficiency in many fields around the world over the years.
