Transocean has chosen to delay the operating and delivery contracts for two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships by 12 months, the company announced on 26 October.
Transcocean, working with its customer, Shell, and the shipyard, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) will delay the receipt of the Deepwater Pontus and Deepwater Poseidon drillships from 1H 2017 to 1H 2018.
No reason was given for the delays, but Ian Macpherson of analyst firm Simmons & Co. said in the company’s morning note that the move will improve Transocean’s near-term liquidity and result in a material reduction to 2017 EBITDA, which the analyst says will reduce from US$1.25 billion down to $1.1 billion.
Both the Deepwater Pontus and the Deepwater Poseidon, scheduled to be built at DSME’s Okpo shipyard, share the DSME 12000 ultra-deepwater drillship design. When constructed, the vessels will measure 781ft-long x 138ft-wide x 64ft-deep. Both are designed for a maximum water depth of 12,000ft and a maximum drilling depth of 40,000ft. The ships will be outfitted with Kongsberg Maritime K-Pos 3 dynamic positioning system. Both will derive its main power from 6 x HHI Himsen 4-stroke diesel engines rated at 7000 kW at 720 rpm, each driving 1 x 6750 kw generator. Each will have a transit speed of 12.5knots.
Transocean said that the new schedule does not impact the duration or dayrate of the original 10-year operating contacts for each vessel. It also said that parties will be compensated for the postponement, but again, the specific terms were not disclosed. Transcocean said the delay does not affect two other drillships contracted by Shell, the Deepwater Thalassa and Deepwater Proteus.
"We are pleased that the strength of our relationships with both Shell and DSME has enabled us to reach this mutual agreement," said Transocean president and CEO Jeremy Thigpen. "We are excited by the progress that we have jointly made with Shell on all four high-specification, ultra-deepwater drillships, including the Deepwater Thalassa, which was delivered this September, and the Deepwater Proteus, which is scheduled for delivery this December."
Image: Transocean's Deepwater Thalassa
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