Valaris ramps up rig upgrades as Saipem advances predictive maintenance and moves to acquire Deep Value Driller
Valaris caps 2025 with nearly $900M in new backlog
Valaris has allocated about $260 million in capex this year for maintenance and upgrade work on certain rigs, the company reported in a results statement.
Some of this will cover maintenance of drillships that will return to work following idle periods and special periodic surveys for various jackups.
The remainder relates to contract-specific upgrades, including for the jackups VALARIS 116 and 250 prior to continuing their long-term bareboat charters with ARO Drilling; and for three drillships that are being upgraded with managed pressure drilling systems, two of which will be of the more advanced CML design.
These upgrades should be partly offset by upfront payments from clients of about $110 million, added Chris Weber, Valaris senior vice president and CFO.
Two drillships are set to return to work in the second quarter, one in the third quarter and one in the fourth quarter. They include the VALARIS DS-15 and DS-18, both of which came off contracts last summer.
The uncontracted semisubmersibles VALARIS MS-1 and DPS-1 have been sent to Malaysia where they are presently stacked.
Saipem adopts predictive maintenance on deepwater drillship, crane vessel
Saipem has installed a predictive maintenance system on the Saipem 12000 ultradeepwater drillship.
The system, co-developed with rig/vessel assurance specialist ADC Energy, employs real-time data and artificial intelligence algorithms to monitor equipment conditions, predict potential failures and schedule interventions before problems might arise. This helps reduce potential downtime and management costs.
It is also part of a broader innovation process under which the company plans to extend the use of AI and data analysis to the entire fleet.
A predictive maintenance project is also undergoing implementation on the heavy-lift crane vessel Saipem 7000, focused on the diesel generators and components that are critical for onboard power production.
In this case, IoT sensors and machine learning models are used to detect early signs of potential failures, allowing maintenance to be planned more efficiently with operational continuity.
The development—a collaboration with data science consultancy BIP—will undergo tests during the coming months.
Saipem, Deep Value Driller reach rig acquisition terms
Saipem has reached an agreement with Deep Value Driller AS (DVD) on the main terms for acquiring the Deep Value Driller drillship for $272.5 million.
The vessel is currently operating offshore Indonesia under a bareboat charter arrangement between the two parties.
Assuming approval for the transaction by the boards of Saipem and DVD, the handover should take place before the expiry of the charter on July 31.
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About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.