Rolls-Royce has signed a contract to supply thrusters and deck machinery for two semi-submersible drilling rigs to be built at Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea for Stena Drilling. The value of the contract is around £22 million to Rolls-Royce.
The new drilling rigs are due for delivery in 2016 and are being built for world-wide operations, including in the rough North Sea. The contract includes options for deliveries to three additional rigs.
Rolls-Royce is a leading supplier of large thrusters and deck machinery to the offshore drilling market. So far, the company has delivered 1,200 thrusters to close to 200 rigs and drillships, and mooring systems to 25 rigs.
Anders Almestad , Rolls-Royce, President-Offshore said: “ This contract confirms our solid foot print in the exploration and production market, and we are very pleased that Samsung and Stena Drilling chose to place another order with us. Samsung is our largest yard customer when it comes to propulsion and we value our long lasting relationship with them.”
The rigs, two Moss CS60 harsh-environment semi-submersible drilling rigs, will each be equipped with six underwater mountable UUC 455 FP thrusters, eight point-mooring systems as well as control systems from Rolls-Royce.
The thrusters are part of the rigs’ propulsion systems, and are used to propel the rigs to and from drill sites and accurately maintain their positioning during drilling operations. By choosing underwater mountable thrusters, downtime is significantly reduced as these are easily mounted and dismantled without drydocking the rig.
[mappress] Press Release, October 24, 2013