Maersk Drilling names new ultra-harsh environment jackup

Maersk Drilling has named a new ultra-harsh environment jackup, Maersk Intrepid, in a ceremony at the Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore. Maersk Intrepid is the first in a series of four ultra-harsh environment jackups to enter Maersk Drilling’s rig fleet. The four jackups represent a total investment of $2.6 billion. The first three jackups, including Maersk Intrepid, will be delivered from the Keppel FELS shipyard in 2014 to 2015, and the fourth will be delivered from the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea in 2016.

After delivery from the yard, Maersk Intrepid will mobilize to the North Sea and commence a four-year firm contract with Total E&P Norge AS to drill the demanding and complex wells on the Martin Linge field development in the Norwegian North Sea. The contract includes four one-year options. The estimated contract value for the firm contract is $550 million.

“With the naming of the Maersk Intrepid, we are opening a new chapter in Maersk Drilling’s Norwegian history,” said Claus V. Hemmingsen, CEO of Maersk Drilling and member of the Executive Board of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group. “We have invested in the Maersk Intrepid and its three sister rigs in order to continue to grow and leverage our market leading position in Norway.”