Jackup Rig
For the first time in 30 years, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) is re-entering the large jackup rig market which recently opened new opportunities in the marine plant business.
On September 25, DSME announced that it successfully signed the order to build one large jackup rig at about US$530 million with Maersk Drilling in Denmark.
A jackup rig is drilling equipment used for oil reserves near the continental shelf. It lowers iron poles underwater, locking the body onto the seabed, and drills oil or gas from above sea level. This equipment is less affected by the waves and currents, thus often used in areas around the North Sea where the waters are not deep but heavy with waves.
The jackup rig DSME will build for this project is high-tech equipment that allows drilling from 150m to at most 12km. It will be designed to drill despite the winter climate below 20 degrees and rough marine conditions of the North Sea.
DSME will work with the GeojeOkpo Shipyard to build and ship the rig by mid-2016 which will be installed near Norway.
In the early 1980s, DSME received two small to mid-size jackup rig orders and participated in the North Sea Semi-Rig project. Through this unique competitiveness and proved technologies, DSME successfully signed a large rig contract with Maersk Drilling, a leading figure in the jackup industry with over a 55% share in the large jackup rig market. DSME anticipates additional orders in the future.