OCEAN GREATWHITE

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Latest news

Diamond Offshore Drilling plans to recover lost equipment

The Diamond Offshore Drilling was working closely with BP and the local authorities in response to the incident with the 'Ocean Greatville', and it was planning efforts to recover the lost equipment and has initiated efforts to replace any missing or damaged equipment. The US drilling contractor noted it was too early to reliably estimate the financial impact of the incident, but would prepare estimates as it obtains further information regarding the incident, the recovery of the LMRP and riser, and the repair and replacement of affected equipment. BP was aware of the incident and provided any necessary support to rig operator Diamond Offshore Drilling.

Rig dropped riser to the seabed

The 'Ocean Greatwhite', while carrying out sub-sea drilling for British Petroleum, has malfunctioned in bad weather and has dropped its riser to the seabed, while the dynamically positioned rig was located approximately 200 kilometres west of the Shetland Islands in pos. 60 22 51 N, 004 05 55 W, about twop nautical miles from the Schiehallion Field on Feb 1, 2024. No injuries were reported, and the rig was not engaged in drilling operations at the time of the incident. The US rig owner Diamond has disconnected the rig's lower marine riser package (LMRP) from the rig's blowout preventer (BOP) on the well while waiting in harsh weather. Subsequently, the LMRP and the deployed riser string unintentionally separated from the rig at the slip joint tensioner ring, and the LMRP and riser dropped to the seabed. An investigation into the incident was launched to understand the cause of the separation. The rig maintained its structural integrity and the well was secure with the BOP in place. In addition, there have been no reports of damage to seabed infrastructure and no known environmental impacts or lower hull damage. While it was yet unknown how much work there was to be done to recover the equipment, the rig will be on downtime for a long time.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Delivers the World’s Largest Semi-Submersible Drilling Rig for Diamond Offshore

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s largest shipbuilder and a leading offshore facilities manufacturer, today announced it delivered Ocean Greatwhite, the world’s largest semi-submersible drilling rig, to Diamond Offshore, a Houston-based drilling contractor on July 15. The delivery installment worth 460 billion won ($395 million) HHI received from the client will help improve HHI’s cash flow. Ocean Greatwhite, measuring 123 m in length and 78 m in width, is capable of operating in waters up to 3 km deep and drilling down to a depth of 10.67 km from the sea surface. The rig will be chartered to BP for operation in the Great Australian Bight from October this year. HHI won the order worth $630 million to build the rig in 2013 and has delivered four other drillships to the US-based drilling contractor so far. An HHI official said, “The close cooperation between Diamond Offshore and HHI on the basis of mutual trust is what made the delivery of Ocean Greatwhite possible.” Source: Hyundai Heavy Industries