Odfjell Drilling’s business in Norway is growing as two new semisubmersibles are joining the fleet in 2019. In the next months, we will employ more than 200 operational personnel, engineers and administrative support personnel to support our growing North Sea activities.
With the delivery of Deepsea Nordkapp on 7 January this year and the Management agreement entered into with CIMC Raffles for Beacon Atlantic on 19 March, we will mobilize two new 6th generation semisubmersibles for drilling operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf this year.

Deepsea Nordkapp is in transit from Samsung in Korea to the North Sea and is expected to arrive at CCB, Ågotnes around 8 April for a three weeks yard stay prior to start operations for Aker BP in Q2 this year. Beacon Atlantic is currently at CIMC Raffles yard in Yantai, China completing final commissioning and sea trials. The unit is planned to leave the yard in early June and arrive in Norway 3 months later. Drilling operations for Neptune Energy Norway will commence in Q4, 2019.

Deepsea Nordkapp is a 6th generation dynamically positioned harsh environment and winterized semi-submersible of Moss enhanced CS 60E design. The unit is developed for DP operations in ultra-deep-water (up to 2.000 metres on DP and 950 metres in moored position) and harsh environment with requirement for dual activity and high capacity drilling systems. It is equipped with a Dual Active Heave DW. Some additional upgrades will take place at CCB prior to commence drilling for Aker BP for its 2 + 2 year contract shortly.

Beacon Atlantic is optimized for the mid-water segment and is upon delivery able to operate at water depth up to 500 meters and drill wells down to 8500 meters. If required, it may be upgraded to operate in water depths up to 1200 meters. It is equipped with NOV drilling package, DP3 and 8-point mooring system. The rig is designed to operate in the harsh North Sea environment and is winterized for other challenging regions such as the Arctic and the Barents Sea. The unit is further designed for efficient operations with offline capability and active heave compensation system. Drilling operations for the 6 + 10 well drilling program with Neptune Energy Norway will commence in Q4 this year.

Following these mobilizations, Odfjell Drilling will operate five semisubmersibles offshore Norway in 2019; Deepsea Bergen, Deepsea Atlantic, Deepsea Stavanger, Deepsea Nordkapp and Beacon Atlantic. The company also has Deepsea Aberdeen in operation on the UKCS plus platform drilling on 14 installations in Norway and UK. Our sixth generation harsh environment units has proven to be of the most efficient and technology advanced rigs in the market today and we will recruit personnel to all our MODU units the next months.

About Odfjell

Odfjell is one of the leading players in the global market for seaborne transportation and storage of chemicals and other speciality bulk liquids.