Offshore drilling company Pride International has taken delivery of a new deepwater drillship, the Deep Ocean Mendocino.

The drillship will be deployed to the US Gulf of Mexico to begin a five-year contract with a division of Petrobras in the second quarter of this year, following completion of integrated testing.

The Mendocino has a drilling capacity of 12,000ft and is equipped with DPS-3 certified dynamic positioning, a 6,000-barrel active fluid storage and handling system and can accommodate up to 200 people.

The Mendocino is the fifth vessel to be added under the company’s deepwater drillship expansion programme with SHI.