Offshore staff
SUGAR LAND, Texas -- Noble Drilling Holding has contracted for the construction of a new, dynamically positioned, ultra deepwater, harsh environment Globetrotter class drillship with South Korea's STX Heavy Industries (STX) and Dutch-based design and construction firm Huisman Equipment.
The drillship will be built on a fixed-price basis in two phases. Following construction of the hull and installation of the propulsion system by STX at its new facility in Dalian, China, the to-be-named drillship will sail under its own power to the Netherlands where Huisman will complete installation and commissioning of the topside equipment. The delivered cost of the drillship, excluding capitalized interest, is estimated to be $585 million, with delivery scheduled for the second half of 2011.
Noble has secured priced options for three additional Globetrotter drillships exercisable by the company over the next 90, 120, and 180 days, respectively, from the date of contract execution.
The drillship will measure 620 ft (189 m) long and 105 ft (32 m) wide and will have Huisman's multi-purpose tower design with a drilling side and a pipe assembly side. The Globetrotter will be capable of drilling to a TVD of 40,000 ft (12,192 m) and will feature DP-3 station-keeping ability, 18,000 tons (16,329 metric tons) of variable deck load, and quarters for 180 personnel.
09/23/2008
