Jurong Shipyard achieves early delivery of West Orion

West Orion is the sixth unit of 6th generation (F&G) ExD Class built for Seadrill Limited.

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

Round 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.