Keppel FELS is set to build a new drillship under its CAN DO design, for use in exploration, development and completion operations.
Designed to include a large deck space, the drillship will be developed jointly by Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre, the R&D unit of Keppel O&M, and its design partner GustoMSC.
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In addition to incorporating exploration drilling requirements, the vessel’s design gives room for installation of third party equipment required for development and completion drilling.
The vessel also has a double blowout preventer stack integrated into the design, and has a riser hold capacity meeting 12,000ft water depth with the flexibility of storing either 75ft or 90ft-long risers.
Keppel Offshore & Marine chief operating officer and CEO Chow Yew Yuen said that the new design is capable of handling next-generation 20K psi blowout preventers.
“While most modern drillships currently in operation were designed and built for exploration drilling, industry feedback has revealed the need for vessels capable of performing development and completion drilling in addition to exploration drilling,” he added.
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By GlobalData“Since the launch of our design earlier this year, we have received a very encouraging response from the market, and we have decided to start constructing the first drillship to this design. We believe the drillship meets the high functionality, safety and cost-effective requirements of the industry.”
The company has already tested the model at the MARIN facility in Netherland and obtained class approval for the basic design of the vessel. They have also created a full 3D model for construction purposes.
Construction of the drilling vessel is expected to be completed by 2016.
