Ocean Rig Skyros enters service

Transocean's Polar Pioneer semisubmersible.

Transocean's harsh environment semisubPolar Pioneer, currently drilling for Statoil offshore Norway, will mobilize to Alaska later this year in preparation for a 2014 contract with Shell. At press time, Shell had not submitted an Alaskan exploration plan, but in October, Shell CFO Simon Henry said the company would focus on its Chuckchi Sea prospects. Shell plans to bring the drillship Noble Discoverer back to Alaska for the exploration program; Polar Pioneer will be on hand as a backup for relief well drilling, in compliance with federal safety regulations. The rig replaces Shell's Kulluk, which was damaged when it ran aground during towing in 2012. Shell will likely cease Kulluk repairs and take a write-off of "a few hundred million" in 4Q 2013, Henry said.

Keppel FELS celebrates record year

Keppel FELS closed out 2013 with the delivery of the KFELS B Class jackupARABDRILL 60 to Arabian Drilling, marking a total of 21 newbuild rig deliveries for the year and setting a new company record for the number of rig deliveries in a single year. ARABDRILL 60 is the third jackup Keppel FELS has supplied to Arabian Drilling. The rig is chartered to Saudi Aramco, which also operates the jackup ARABDRILL 50, delivered earlier in 2013.

Cidade de Ilhabela FPSO">SBM Offshore'sCidade de Ilhabela FPSO arrived at Brasa yard in Niteroi, Brazil, in January, for integration of the hull and 22,000-metric ton topsides. The vessel will be installed at the Sapinhoá field in the Santos basin BM-S-9 block. Ten of the FPSO's 18 modules were built at Brasa, a joint venture of SBM and Brazil's Synergy group. (Photo courtesy SBM Offshore)

Sigma cancels drillship contract

Vantage Drilling Co. and its partners in the Sigma Drilling joint venture have cancelled a contract with financially troubled STX Offshore & Shipbuilding for the ultra-deepwater drillshipPalladium Explorer. Last August, STX said it would suspend activity on the project while the company restructured its operations and finances. Efforts to move construction to another shipyard failed, leading Sigma to terminate the contract and file a claim for reimbursement of payments made so far.

CIMC to build CSM jackups

Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore secured an order for two newbuild jackups from Central Shipping Monaco. The order for two F&G JU2000E rigs includes options for up to four additional units. The rigs are scheduled for delivery by the end of 2015. The Monaco-based tanker operator has not announced contracts for the rigs but noted that they would be "built to Pemex requirements."

Delta House driller leaves China

Seadrill's Sevan Louisiana en route to the GoM.

The Seadrill-operatedSevan Louisianaleft the Cosco shipyard in Qidong, China, in late October, to begin mobilization to the US Gulf of Mexico. The cylindrical ultra-deepwater drilling unit is scheduled to start work at LLOG's Delta House project, in Mississippi Canyon block 254, by the end of 1Q 2014. LLOG plans to bring Delta House onstream in the first half of 2015.