Bussiness News

Jurong Shipyard, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine, has successfully delivered West Orion, the third of four turnkey 6th generation semisubmersible drilling units built for Seadrill Limited on budget and 10 days ahead of original delivery schedule, with “zero punchlist”.

Bound for development drilling operations offshore Brazil under a six-year contract with Petrobras, West Orion is expected to commence operations at end July 2010. West Orion follows after the delivery of sister rigs West Sirius and West Taurus in 2008. The first sister rig West Sirius, delivered in March 2008, is currently serving a six-year charter with Devon Energy in the Gulf of Mexico, while the second sister unit West Taurus, delivered one week ahead of schedule in November 2008, is operating offshore Brazil under a six-year charter with Petrobras.

West Orion is the sixth unit of a series of 6th generation Friede and Goldman (F&G) ExD Class semi-submersible rig delivered by Jurong Shipyard. This dynamic positioning ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig is capable of operating in 3,000 metres water depth and harsh environment drilling conditions in most of the world’s known challenging deepwater arena. The state-of-the-art rig is engineered for stability and versatility with operational displacement of 43,400 metric tons at 17 metres draft and 46,750 metric tons at 20 metres draft. It also features high load capacity and an efficient drill floor layout with improved safety and working environment features.

Mr Alf C Thorkildsen, CEO and President of Seadrill Management said: “We are pleased to report the third consecutive on-time and on-budget delivery of an advanced dynamic positioning semi-submersible drilling rig to Seadrill from Jurong Shipyard. The delivery of West Orion by Jurong Shipyard on budget, 10 days ahead of schedule and without punches, sets a new industry standard. The Seadrill strategy of ordering newbuild units
with highly reputable yards like Jurong Shipyard has paid off and we would like to thank the Jurong team for their hard work and efforts in achieving this delivery record. The cooperation between Seadrill and Jurong Shipyard is clearly a winning formula.”

Mr Wong Weng Sun, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sembcorp Marine and Managing Director of Jurong Shipyard, said: “The ahead-of-schedule delivery of West Orion – our third Seadrill semi-submersible newbuild – is a testament to Jurong Shipyard’s global leadership position in the innovative turnkey construction of ultradeepwater semi-submersible rigs. The early delivery achievement of West Orion is an engineering feat and a reflection of the strong Seadrill-Jurong synergy that has been built up over the years. We are heartened by Seadrill’s continued support and look forward to continuing this fruitful partnership into the future.”

About Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd

Jurong Shipyard, a fully-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine, is a leading shipyard offering integrated services and customised solutions in ship repair, shipbuilding, ship conversion, rig building and offshore engineering to a worldwide clientele. Apart from its proven track record in the building and servicing of jack-up and semi-submersible rigs, Jurong Shipyard is also a global leader in the EPC conversion of tankers to floating, production, storage and offloading units (FPSOs), floating storage tankers (FSOs) and floating production units (FPU).