A subsidiary of Atwood Oceanics has ordered a fourth ultra-deepwater drillship from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME).
The vessel, to be named the Atwood Archer, will be identical to the previously ordered Atwood Advantage, Atwood Achiever and Atwood Admiral.
All four drillships are DP3, dual derrick ultra-deepwater drillships, rated to operate in water depths up to 12,000 ft and drill to a depth of up to 40,000 ft.
The Atwood Archer will be Atwood's 17th mobile offshore drilling unit and is due to be delivered by the end of 2015 at a total cost of about US$635million.
The contract includes two blowout preventers, project management, and drilling and handling tools and spares.
Houston-based Atwood also agreed an option with DSME to order a fifth drillship at a similar cost to the Atwood Archer, with expected delivery in September 2016.
Atwood Oceanics, founded in 1968, currently owns 13 mobile offshore drilling units and four ultra-deepwater drillships under construction.
