China’s CIMC Raffles has launched the lower hull of the Beacon Atlantic semi-submersible drilling rig.
As revealed in CIMC Raffles’ press release on Tuesday, the launching ceremony of Beacon Atlantic’s lower hull was held on Monday, October 12, 2015.
The rig of GM4-D design is being built for Norway’s North Sea Rigs AS.
Scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2016, the rig will be owned by Beacon Holdings Group Ltd. North Sea Rigs AS is managing the projects on behalf of the owner.
CIMC Raffles on October 13, said that the lower hull was moved on the barge TAIRUI at the dock 1.
According to CIMC Raffles, the lower hull is 106.75 metres long, 73.7 wide, 34 high, and it weighs 11451T. As said in China’s shipbuilder’s press release, the next step is mating the topside with the hull.
Beacon Atlantic will be able to operate at water depth up to 500 meters and drill wells down to 8000 meters. It will be equipped with a NOV drilling package, DP3 and 8-point mooring system. The rig is designed to operate in the harsh North Sea environment and also in other challenging regions such as the Arctic and Barents Sea.
In a separate announcement on Tuesday, CIMC Raffles reported that the keel laying ceremony for Bacon Pacific semisubmersible rig, that saw cutting the first steel in June , was held in CIMC Raffles Yantai yard on Monday. The Bacon Pacific is also being built for North Sea Rigs AS.
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