Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. yesterday announced that a subsidiary, Diamond Offshore Drilling Limited, has entered into a turnkey contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. for construction of a new ultra-deepwater drillship with delivery scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Total cost, including commissioning, spares and project management, but excluding capitalized interest, is expected to be approximately $655 million.
The new drillship, to be named Ocean BlackLion, will be of the same design as Diamond Offshore’s three units currently on order with Hyundai. Design specifications include dynamic-positioning, dual activity capability, a maximum hook-load capacity of 1,250 tons, and operating capability at water depths up to 12,000 feet, though initially outfitted for operation at 10,000 feet. The unit will also feature two seven-ram blowout preventer (“BOP”) stacks, with the second available for use as a spare.
Diamond Offshore has elected to equip its previously announced drillships now under construction with an additional seven-ram BOP to improve rig reliability. The cost to add a second BOP is approximately $34 million, bringing the average total price for each of the previously announced drillships to approximately $640 million.
Diamond Offshore also announced today that it has completed the sale of four jack-up drilling rigs in two separate transactions. The Ocean Heritage was sold for $45 million in cash, and the cold stacked mat-supported rigs Ocean Champion, Ocean Crusader, and Ocean Drake were together sold for $10 million in cash; all four units were held for sale in the Company’s first-quarter financial results.
“We are principally a floater company, and during 2012 we have sold five jack-up rigs for a total of $95 million, which is being reinvested in our fleet,” said Larry Dickerson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Offshore . “We believe this new drillship along with our four additional units under construction—the Ocean BlackHawk, Ocean BlackHornet, Ocean BlackRhino and Ocean Onyx—will be profitably employed in the deep and ultra-deepwater markets.”
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Source: Diamond Offshore, May 10, 2012; Image: ABS