Keppel FELS to build new-design drillship

Dec. 11, 2013
Keppel FELS has decided to proceed with building a drillship using a new design dubbed the CAN DO.

Offshore staff

SINGAPORE –Keppel FELS has decided to proceed with building a drillship using a new design dubbed the CAN DO.

Jointly developed by Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre (KOMtech), the R&D arm of Keppel O&M, and partner GustoMSC, Keppel's CAN DO drillship is designed to overcome the constraints of limited deck space found in most drillships.

Apart from incorporating exploration drilling requirements, the design has a large functional deck space to allow installation of third-party equipment for development and completion drilling. In addition, the drillship has a double blowout preventer stack integrated into the design, and has a riser hold capacity meeting 12,000 ft (3,658 m) water depth with the flexibility of storing either 75-ft or 90-ft (23-m or 27.5-m) long risers.

The vessel is scheduled for completion in 2016.

"While most modern drillships currently in operation were designed and built for exploration drilling, industry feedback has revealed the need for vessels capable of performing development and completion drilling in addition to exploration drilling.” Said Chow Yew Yuen, COO and CEO designate of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. “Since the launch of our design earlier this year, we have received very encouraging response from the market, and we have decided to start constructing the first drillship to this design.”

12/11/13