Rowan Companies plc entered into a three-year contract with Cobalt International Energy, L.P. for the Rowan Reliance, a new ultra-deepwater drillship currently under construction at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (HHI) shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. The drillship is expected to operate in the US Gulf of Mexico.
The Rowan Reliance is one of four ultra-deepwater drillships being constructed for Rowan by HHI. All four drillships are based on a GustoMSC P10,000 hull design, capable of drilling wells to depths of 40,000ft in water depths up to 12,000ft. The DP-3 compliant, dynamically positioned drillship will be equipped with retractable thrusters, two readily deployable seven-ram BOP systems, five mud pumps, dual mud systems and a maximum hookload capacity of 1,250 tons.
The drillship is scheduled for delivery at the end of October 2014. The contract is expected to commence late January 2015 following mobilization. The effective day rate for the work will be $602,000, including mobilization revenues, and adds $660 million in revenue backlog.
The fourth remaining uncontracted drillship under construction at HHI, the Rowan Relentless, is scheduled to be delivered from the shipyard at the end of March 2015.
