Leonard T. Roe - An experience driller and toolpusher

In August 2004, I was on my way to Stavangar to attend the Offshore exhibition ( similar to that of OTC yearly held in Houston, though I had been to Houston many times but never been to OTC ever ) and I had made a purpose stopover trip to London Heathrow Terminal 3 for the first time to meet up Leonard Roe ( Len, in short after we known each other ) for an interview to be our drilling engineer. I got to know Len through his "Workover" drilling website and found him likely suitable candidate to fill our company's vacant post after speaking to some other candidates of similiar triats and experience.  A fit British army in old days, Len was a toolpusher in the early 70s' and had worked for Maersk back then. I landed at Heathrow airport, it was usual over crowded and packed and but somehow it was not that difficult to find Leonard at one of the counters where you book for a cab. At first sight, Len gave me the impression of the "roughneck" type with strong and big physique. We had some food in the hotel cafe and then we move on for an "informal" interview.  Len showed me his past credentials and his working experiences and his current work as drilling well control instructor and presenter. He had given me some of powerpoint presentations and he showed me very keenly and proudly his work, how he did his animations in powerpoint. I had the whole night assessing and understanding his working experience and his knowledge in well control and offshore drilling. Flew back to office after the purposed trip and discussed about Len's work to our management. After some track record checks and reviews, we finally hired Len in November that year. Len left us 2010 and had to return UK to further his treatment on his throat and I have no idea of his present condition whether he is improving or not. He has a son in the twenties and wife is in home care due to old age. Hope Len is still around and busy with his stuff on his website, www.drillfloor.com

Part of my in-between flight schedules while on way to ONS2004 exhibition:

Wed, Aug 25: SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES, SK 0505

From: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (CPH) map Departs: 2:55pm
Departure Terminal: TERMINAL 3 Gate: Check for latest information
To: LONDON HEATHROW, UNITED KINGDOM (LHR) map Arrives: 3:50pm
Aircraft: MCDONNELL DOUGLAS MD-90 JET Mileage: 594
Flight Time: 1 hours and 55 minutes

Thu, Aug 26: SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES, SK 2520
From: LONDON HEATHROW, UNITED KINGDOM (LHR) map Departs: 10:45am
Departure Terminal: TERMINAL 3 Gate: Check for latest information
To: STAVANGER, NORWAY (SVG) map Arrives: 1:30pm
Aircraft: BOEING 737 JET Mileage: 554
Flight Time: 1 hours and 45 minutes

Leonard T. Roe

Rig manager and Drilling Superintendent

 

From November 2004 until November 2010 (6 one year contracts) held in the position of consulting Principal Engineer Drilling in Singapore to assist in setting up a drilling team.  This position involve the over view of the planning and designing of the rig floor and associated drilling components, and the systems associated with the Rig Technology of the many new builds, much of the onsite involvements carried out included, rig inspections during the construction phase, function testing installed equipment, and commissioning.

Offsite involvement included, sitting in on meeting with customers, checking and suggesting the rearrangement of drawings and layouts, writing seminars and lectures for both management and engineers as and when needed. Such seminars were run in Singapore, Abu-Dubai, and India. And would often include both yard personal and many of their customers.

Leonard was a freelance training instructor and consultant compiling and instructing/teaching aids for distant learning classes on rig design and functions while recovering from cancer, many of the subject can be seen below.

Some of his Lessons written in the past include:

Casing and Cementing

Fishing tools and their functions

Stripping and Snubbing

Bops' Atmospheric d-gasser and the Accumulator, kill and choke manifolds

Drill string Design

The circulating system

Drilling Hydraulic

Oil well completions and Workover

Introduction to casing while drilling

Rig Safety

Workover operations

Ton miles and wire line safety

Bulk Storage Systems

Mud Mixing system

Solid control systems Mud Cleaning and shaker area including D-gassers

Top Drive

Rotating Mouse Holes

Fox Holes

Pipe Deck Machines

Power Slips, PS30, PS21, PS16

Iron Roughneck TS80, AD4500, AD3200, Jim

Hydraulic Cat Heads

Hydraulic Power Units

Hydraulic stabbing boards

High Pressure Piping Systems this includes Valves, All manufactures

Conductor Tensioning Units (CTU)

Diverters Vetcogray and Cameron

Rig Pumps (fluid end and power end)

The crown and crown block assembles

The Stand Pipe Manifold

The choke Manifold

The trip Tank design an function

I have uploaded here some of Len's work below which he has given personally to me for sharing,
( P/s  the correctness of the information here below are not being counter-checked and to be used with discretion )  :

Rigfloor equipment2


Rig Controls at Drill Floor



Bulk Mud System


Optimizing Solids Control


Iron Roughneck


Slush Pumps


Top drive


What is an Accumulator1



Underbalanced Drilling


Surface Cement

RC Bits


Casing 2


Gas Cut Mud

Liners



Deepwater BOP Riser


Diverter Systems


Well Head

Propeller and hull wake resistance

In ship vibration, the propeller is normally the trouble source which can cause an excessive ship vibration problem. The consequences of excessive vibration in the ship's stern area can be very detrimental to the crews' comfort. Deterioration of the structural members can be accelerated as a result of fatigue caused by long term cyclic vibration. Excessive vibration can damage or adversely impact the performance of the ship’s mechanical and electrical equipment. Prolonged exposure to vibration can contribute to crew discomfort and increasing the opportunities for human error.

Increased flexibility of the hull girder of larger, and particularly longer, ships with a fine, underwater form can significantly increase susceptibility to vibration. Moreover, as the weight and distribution of steel within ship structures are optimized as shipbuilders attempt to control production and material costs, the probability for vibration-related troubles, particularly in the stern section of the vessel, increases. As the demand for higher service speeds for many of these vessels also increases, attendant increases in the propulsive power are required. This translates into higher loads on propellers, which in turn lead to greater propeller excitation and an increase in the risk of vibration and vibration-induced failures. These create an intense, fluctuating pressure impact on the ship’s hull.

There is now the availability of modern propeller design, moderate amount of sheet cavitation is often unavoidable in order to maintain the required propulsion efficiency. Reconciling the challenges posed by these conflicting technical and operational demands is essential if further improvements in the speed-power-size ratio are to be realized, particularly for large vessels.

To study and predict propeller-induced hull vibration is not simple. It is a synthetical analysis involving methodologies of many topics such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Finite Element Method (FEM), and fluid cavitation dynamics. In propeller induced hull vibration assessment, the prediction of stern flow is central to the problem of unsteady propeller loads, cavitation, and propeller-induced hull pressure. The solution to these problems requires detailed knowledge of the turbulent stern flow (including thick and perhaps separated boundary layers), bilge vorticity, and propeller/hull interaction. Common in ship design, the technology for these predictions was mainly based on regression and empirical formulae. At best, the use of ship flow codes was restricted to potential flow calculation augmented by boundary layer predictions to approximate viscous effects. Propeller calculations were performed using empirically generated effective wakes, and the propeller’s interaction with the hull was approximated with a thrust deduction coefficient.

The use of CFD in ship hydrodynamics has increased in the marine field. This is due to continuous advances in computational methods together with the increase in performance and affordability of computers. Also, due to the emergence of many unconventional propulsor designs such as tractor PODs, tip plate propellers, and propellers with wake equalizing ducts/spoilers, empirical methods based on the historical databases developed for conventional propeller designs become questionable in the innovative designs. More sophisticated analyses based on direct simulation using CFD and FEA methods are required to associate with the model tests for propeller-induced vibration studies.

Nowadays, with advances in CFD techniques, more comprehensive analyses can be performed for propeller/hull interaction flow problems. It has been demonstrated that CFD simulation, particularly using RANS-based methods, can provide more flow details in understanding the complex propeller/hull interaction process. This paper provides an overview of the methodologies and the state-of-the-art computational analysis tools that ABS has developed in order to more accurately estimate propeller-induced hull vibration.

The sequence of comprehensive analyses in the integrated simulation system is summarized as follows:

1. Bare hull wake field (nominal wake) simulation

2. Simulation of wake field under propeller-ship hull interaction (effective wake)

3. Propeller performance analysis (thrust and torque coefficients, K T and K Q )

4. Propeller cavitation analysis (cavity patterns on propeller blades)

5. Hydrodynamic loading assessment (pressure on blades, propeller induced hull pressure and bearing forces/moments)

6. FEM analysis for vibration and stress on ship hull, shaft and propeller blades

Resistance and propulsion summary - With courtesy from Newcastle UponTyne University
Resistance Propulsion


Global vibration on container vessel - courtesy of Delta Marine Engineering

GlobalVibration Container Vessel


Lloyds Register Ship vibration - Courtesy of Llyods Register
LR ShipVibrationNotes




Vibration Analysis and Noise Rev1



Vibration Analysis

Turning 50 doesn't mean you are past your prime

Extracts and with courtesy of Sunday Times, 16th Sept 2012

It's never too late to achieve success, turning 50 plus doesn't mean you are past your prime - many successful entrepreneurs were late bloomers.

The corporate world is no exception. We tend to idolise the extraordinary achievements of entrepreneurs such as Apple's Mr Steve Jobs and Facebook's Mr Mark Zuckerberg when they peak early in their businesses. But this leaves the impression that if we fail to achieve success by a certain age, we will never make it.

There are many success stories involving late bloomers. Fast-food chains that dot our island Kentucky Fried Chicken was started by entrepreneur Harlan Sanders, the "Colonel Sanders" whose picture featuring his distinctive trademark goatee and white suit still appears on the company logo.

After spending nearly a lifetime trying out various jobs without much success - working as a farmer, a steamboat pilot and an insurance salesman - he finally hit the big time when he was 66, promoting his style of frying chicken. Then there is the ubiquitous McDonald's which is usually located side by side with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Milkshake mixer salesman Ray Kroc was 52 when he came across a small, thriving hamburger shop in southern California. He offered to be the shop's agent and later bought out its owners. The business prospered in his hands and was transformed into the world's biggest fast-food empire, as its restaurants with their familiar bright yellow arches planted themselves all over the globe.

In the financial world, few traders are aware of the remarkable story of Mr Roy Thomson, the man behind financial data provider Thomson Reuters.

Mr Thomson was a moderately successful radio station owner in Canada when he moved to Scotland after he turned 60, when his wife died and his business partner left to enter public life. He went on to create a media empire, buying up newspapers such as The Scotsman and The Times of London and numerous book publishers. In 2008, Thomson Corporation, the company he created, took over Reuters Group to form Thomson Reuters.

Even in our own backyard, there are examples of businessmen who achieved extraordinary success after reaching an age many regard as past their prime.

One good example is banker Wee Cho Yaw, who, when he was in his 70s, led his bank United Overseas Bank (UOB) to successfully out-bid DBS Bank for Overseas Union Bank in 2001.

It turned out to be a transformational deal which cemented UOB's position as a leading lender in South-east Asia.

There is also the example set by 68-year old Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, the owner of Thai Beverage, who is currently engaged in a fierce tussle with Dutch brewing giant Heineken for control of Asia Pacific Breweries, the iconic maker of Tiger Beer. At an age when most people are supposed to be playing with their grandchildren, Mr Charoen is giving this European giant a run for its money, as he presses ahead with an audacious bid to become a leading brewer in Asia's fast-growing but fractured beer market.

It promises to be a battle of epic proportions which gets even a hard-bitten newsman like me all fired up with excitement over the outcome of the fight.

So, rather than succumb to the de-motivating belief that it is too late for any of us to do anything after a certain age, we should tell ourselves: It is never too late. Not even if we have turned 90.

We need to change our mindset - and believe that any deterioration a person may encounter past the age of 50 is really all in the mind.

Many people find that life is a lot easier after turning 50 years old. Suddenly you know who you are and what it is you want out of life; there isn’t anymore having to find yourself. It also seems as if you have a lot more control over your life than you once did. When we are young we seemed to be taken along by the tide and may be pushed into directions that we didn’t intend on going, but once you are older you have enough wisdom to know how to go against the tide and be exactly who you want to be.

Just because you are turning 50 years old doesn’t mean you have to look and feel like you are 50. If you eat right and get plenty of exercise you will probably look and feel years younger than what you are. There is no doubt that you are likely to have a few more aches and pains than you did 10 or 20 years ago, but all things considering, 50 should be a time you are looking forward and enjoy life as you wish to and do what you had wanted but did not get a chance due to your work life and see what you missed out in the past.

Self-worth quotables :-

“We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.”

― Malcolm X

“Life is too short to waste any amount of time on wondering what other people think about you. In the first place, if they had better things going on in their lives, they wouldn't have the time to sit around and talk about you. What's important to me is not others' opinions of me, but what's important to me is my opinion of myself.”

― C. JoyBell C.

“Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing you're worthy of the trip.”

― Glenn Beck, The Christmas Sweater

“If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development.”

― Brian Tracy

“Most lives are not distinguished by great achievements. They are measured by an infinite number of small ones. Each time you do a kindness for someone or bring a smile to his face, it gives your life meaning. Never doubt your value, little friend. The world would be a dismal place without you in it. (tweaked version of a passage from Scandal in Spring)”

― Lisa Kleypas, Scandal in Spring

“A diamond doesn't start out polished and shining. It once was nothing special, but with enough pressure and time, becomes spectacular. I'm that diamond.”

― Solange nicole

Courtesy of Straits Times, Sunday, 18 November 2012 

Don't call me old...      

Being over 50 does not mean being over the hill, with many of the over-50 set defying ageist stereotypes

In his last job, resident technical officer Lee Joo Mong cycled to and from work every day for six months. It was about 14.5km or an hour each way from his three-room flat in Ang Mo Kio to his worksite at the Pan Pacific hotel.

His current worksite, Credo Residences, opposite the Ang Mo Kio MRT station, is just a 15-minute walk away. So Mr Lee cycles 32km, goes home for a shower and then walks to work.

On Sundays, he puts in an extra 112km on his bike around the island.The 59-year-old, who is single, says older people should not slow down.

"In fact, we should put in more effort to maintain the same level of fitness we had when we were younger," says Mr Lee, adding that in his physically demanding job, "I can do anything my younger colleagues can do".

Members of the over-50 set SundayLife! spoke to decry the notion that people past a certain age should prepare for life in a rocking chair.

Ageist attitudes persist in Singapore, says Mr Dennis Heath, a Singapore permanent resident of 10 years, who wrote to The Straits Times Forum page. The executive coach observed in his letter, published on Nov 5, that employers think that workers who are over 50 are past their sell-by date.

The 58-year-old Briton notices four ways that the "over-the-hill thinking" manifests itself: "They think older people are not as fit, not as tech-savvy, that we demand huge salaries because of experience and that we are set in our ways and refuse to learn new skills."  The owner of his own coaching company since 2006 puts paid to such ageist notions with a busy work, sports and social life.

He cycles or walks most mornings and trains with a dragon boat team twice a week. He also works out with weights in his Bedok condominium's gymnasium at least once a week.

Evenings find him at a concert or a movie with his Singapore girlfriend, aged 42, a voice-over artist.

He also started two part-time careers at 55 - as a television actor and voice-over artist.

A telecommunications industry veteran of 30 years, he had come to Singapore about 12 years ago to do international sales for a software company. It was just before the dotcom bust of 2001.

"Within 18 months, I had stock options worth nothing, no job and one month's redundancy pay," recalls Mr Heath, then 47. He went job-hunting for about one year. "There were no responses and I don't even remember having interviews," he says.  Finally, a headhunter friend persuaded an outplacement company to give him a chance. "Even then, it took the headhunter some persuasion to get the company to see me," he says.  But he got the business development manager job: His years of global sales experience were a match, despite his age.

Ms Annie Yap, group managing director of human resource company AYP Asia Group, says that employers' assumptions of veteran workers' sell-by dates are "not entirely accurate".

Ms Yap, 41, adds: "We have come across senior employees who want to continue their careers while taking as much as half their previous salary but they are overlooked by employers because of their age."

National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser sees no reason that "50 is deemed to be old, given that current convention considers aged 65 and above as old".

Also, the "soft" retirement age of 62 is scheduled to be raised in the future.

In any case, age should not be the only consideration. He cites a running group, with whom he has jogged on Sunday evenings for close to 26 years. "The oldest member is close to 80 and he is still going strong, while someone in his early 50s has quit as he suffers from a serious knee problem," says Prof Tan.

At soyabean chain Super Bean International, where a quarter of its 550 employees in Singapore are older than 50, work has been streamlined so that each task - whether it is making pancakes or preparing soya milk - can be handled by anyone regardless of age.  Its managing director Kang Puay Seng, 52, sets an example - his younger colleagues often complain that he "walks too fast", he says, when they go to mega tradeshows abroad that are held in sprawling complexes.

Seniors SundayLife! spoke to say learning is important - at any age.

Ms Peggy Tan, a nurse of 25 years, received a World Health Organization scholarship to do a nursing degree at Curtin University at 42.  At 51, she received a scholarship from Nanyang Polytechnic, where she was lecturing, to do her master's in nursing at King's College London.

Now retired, the 68-year-old grandmother of three keeps busy planning monthly activities for the Australian Alumni Singapore as its vice-president.

Last Thursday, she organised a closed-door sales event for alumni members at a designer boutique.

The well-groomed Ms Tan has a piece of advice for seniors fighting ageist stereotypes. Sloppy dressing does not command respect.

She says: "I'm not the sort to go to the market in pyjamas."



Insights on Tender Assisted Drilling Vessel

Using a semi-submersible tender vessel for drilling from floating installations with dry wellheads in deepwater could be more cost-effective in benign climates such as in Southeast Asia, Brazil and West Africa, according to some well known drilling contractor. 

For example,  West Alliance, built by Keppel, delivered sometime in 2002. The design of this vessel, which is based on that of the West Menang, has been modified with larger columns and pontoons and incorporates a higher variable deckload and more storage capacity for liquid mud and brine.

The eight anchor winches are larger, compared to the wire currently used on West Menang and West Pelaut, which are also some of semisubmersible tender rigs owned by Seadrill. The mooring of tender rigs in deepwater has been facilitated by the development of lightweight mooring ropes such as Dyneema, which is made of high-modular polyethylene and polyester, combined with a pre-laid mooring system.

Two key questions arise in considering whether tender-assisted drilling is beneficial in these circumstances:

•Are there savings to be made compared with alternative solutions?

•Is it technically feasible, given that there is no experience of tender rigs working with deepwater floaters?

Cost savings

The major economic benefit of using a tender rig is that the cost of providing an integrated platform rig is avoided. Estimation made and was suggested that for a wellhead tension-leg platform (TLP), a saving of at least US$140 million (net present value) can be achieved.

This figure is made up of the cost of the platform rig itself and the reduction in the platform construction cost, which results from the fact that the TLP can be smaller. The operating weight of the self-erecting tender is only about one quarter that of a platform rig, while the size of the deck required for the derrick equipment set is also significantly smaller since mud systems, power, pipe deck, accommodation, and so on, are contained on the tender.

•Modec, which has developed the Moses wellhead TLP design

•Aker Maritime, which has delivered several Spar platforms.

The design criteria used in the studies were water depths of 6,000 ft for the Spar and 4,000 ft for the TLP. The key feasibility issue is whether the rig can be moored alongside a TLP or Spar in such a way as to maintain an optimal distance from the installation, neither approaching so close as to run the risk of colliding with it, nor moving so far that the lines carrying power, mud and other functions from the tender to the platform come under strain.

The design environmental conditions used were the 100-year storm conditions in Africa. Criteria for sea conditions were set at a significant wave height of 13.8 ft, a one-minute wind of 43 knots, and a surface current of three knots.

Mooring systems

For the TLP, the study considered a steel wire catenary system with the additional use of two pre-tensioned "stretcher" ropes between the tender and the platform. The stretcher ropes, the purpose of which is to further constrain the relative excursion between the tender and the platform, are 3 1/4-in. nylon rope pre-tensioned to a relatively low value - 50 kips. By maintaining positive tension in the stretchers it is possible to ensure that a minimum controllable distance is always maintained to the TLP. A Tension Leg Platform (TLP) is a vertically moored compliant platform. The floating platform with its excess buoyancy is vertically moored by taut mooring lines called tendons (or tethers). The structure is vertically restrained precluding motions vertically (heave) and rotationally (pitch and roll). It is compliant in the horizontal direction permitting lateral motions (surge and sway).

For the Spar platform study, a taut-leg mooring (TLM) system consisting of wire and polyester rope was used, which is similar to the mooring system adopted for the Spar platform. Studies showed that it is possible to moor the tenders in depths down to 6,000 ft by using a pre-installed mooring system combined with the semisub tender rig's own mooring system upgraded from 2 1/4-in. to 2 1/2-in. diameter wire rope. In the case of the TLP, the maximum relative distance was 84 ft and the minimum distance was 73 ft. In the Spar's case, the maximum relative distance was 105 ft when using 2 1/2-in. wire combined with 3-in. polyester rope and 92 ft when using 2 1/2-in. wire combined with 5-in polyester rope. The minimum distance was 36 ft. The Spar concept is a large deep draft, cylindrical floating Caisson designed to support

drilling and production operations. Its buoyancy is used to support facilities above the water surface [Glanville, et a1 1991; Halkyard 19961. It is, generally, anchored to the seafloor with multiple taut mooring lines. A third generation “cell” Spar was introduced in 2004. It performs similar to the other Spars, but it is constructed differently. The hull consists of multiple ring-stiffened tubes, or “cells”, which are connected by horizontal and vertical plates. This method of construction is cheaper than the traditional plate and frame methods. Because of the length of a Spar, the Spar hull cannot be towed upright. Therefore, it is towed offshore on its side, ballasted to a vertical attitude and then anchored in place. The topside is not taken with the hull and is mated offshore once the Spar is in place at its site. The mooring cables are connected with pre-deployed moorings.

                                                 Courtesy of Dietswell - Horse Shoe Tender Rig

The HS Tender




Tender Assist Drilling vessel erecting of DES onto platform. Courtesy Axon Energy, Youtube downloaded.

                                                        Courtesy of AXON Energy

Offshore Drillship design and building market steaming up but not for long with plunging oil price...



Courtesy of Dolphin Drilling

August 2012, Odfjell Drilling has signed a contract with Brazil Petrobras for the charter and service of three drillships that will be constructed at the Jurong Aracruz shipyard in Espirito Santo. Seadrill is leasing another three drillships to Petrobras.The floating drilling vessels will operate mainly in the pre-salt blocks in the Santos Basin, and according to Petrobras, they can operate in depths of up to 3,000 meters, with a drilling capacity of up to 10,000 meters.

The contracts were signed on August 3rd, and they are all associated with Petrobras’s newbuild program, according to a press release from Odfjell Drilling. Odfjell won the contract in conjunction with its Brazilian partner Galvão Oleo&Gás and Sete Brasil, and Petrobras also entered into agreements with Queiroz Galvão, Petroserv and Odebrecht for another six semi-submersible platforms in which KeppelFELS has started its engineering work and construction planning already.

“This is an important milestone in the development of Odfjell Drilling’s Brazilian drilling activities. The contract gives us an strong industrial basis and positions Odfjell Galvão for further opportunities in one of the most prospective drilling markets worldwide”, says Mr. Simen Lieungh, CEO of Odfjell Drilling.

The three drillships under the names “Guarapari”, “Siri” and “Itaoca” will be constructed in Brasil, by Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz, located in the state of Espirito Santo. The drillships will be based on the drillship design of the proprietary of the shipyard, Jurong Espadon, and will be capable of operating at 10,000 ft (3,048 m) water depth and drilling to depths of 40,000 ft (12,192 m). The local content on the ships ranges from 55 to 65 percent, as required by Petrobras which is same as the semi contract. This gives the local labour workforce good opportunity to keep their sleeves busy.

Another three drillships are also being constructed at the Jurong shipyard, and these will be operated by Seadrill, an offshore deepwater drilling company controlled by Norwegian John Fredriksen. Seadrill currently has five drill ships in operation in Brazilian waters, and four are on contracts with Petrobras.

Odfjell Drilling and Brazilian industrial group Galvão Engenharia recently formed a joint venture with the aim to own and manage the three drillships and develop future opportunities in the Brazilian drilling market. In February 2011, Odfjell Drilling opened a new office in Rio de Janeiro as a first step of expanding the activities in Brazil.

The Odfjell Galvão joint venture is owned on a 50/50 basis and will have a 20 percent stake in the three drillships. Odfjell Galvão will be responsible for management of the vessels throughout the contract period.

Odfjell Drilling is currently operating the Deepsea Metro II also on a contract for Petrobras. “The first milestone we reached in Brazil”, according to Mr. Johanson.

Deepsea Metro II is an ultra deepwater drillship owned by Metrostar (60 percent) and Odfjell Drilling (40 percent), suitable for drilling operations at water depths up to 12 000 feet.

Drillship Overview 2010 - courtesy of ABS

Main Drivers for Vessel Design Selection :

Water depth


Environmental conditions - Harsh or benign

Variable deck load

Transit speed

Station keeping

Owners preferences -Some owners have in-house designs or have chosen a specific design for unknown reasons

Yards preferences and qualifications- Most yards have experiences with some designs or have in-house designs

Market requirements - Shortage in market of specific rigs or niche market

Trends in demand of vessel

Waterdepth capability- 12,000ft water depth capability

Innovative designs-  Smaller drillships with Panamax beam
Circular shaped rigs
Innovative equipment and solutions
Slim high pressure riser with surface BOP

Drilling mast (as a contrary to derrick) with carousel pipe storage

Below deck riser storage
Dual Derrick

Set riser and BOP while drilling open portion of wells
Can equip Dual Derrick 
No patent issues

Less people onboard, less maintenance

Often have so called ”tripsaver” arrangement similar to those used in Semi submersible

POB
1,5 requires ~180 POB
Dual requires ~200 POB Accommodation, lifesaving, galley, utilities etc.

 

US company Ensco, responding to high market demand driven by an ongoing successful offshore discoveries,  has ordered a new advanced-capability, ultra-deepwater drillship to be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries, Co. Ltd. (SHI) Shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. The vessel, ENSCO DS-8, will be the sixth Samsung DP3 drillship in the Ensco fleet, extending the benefits of Ensco’s fleet standardization strategy. It is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2014.

The contract also includes options for two additional drillships of the same design. The fleet expansion will extend Ensco’s advantage of operating the newest ultra-deepwater fleet among global drilling contractors.

Including commissioning, systems integration testing, project management and spares, the construction cost is expected to be around US$650 million. Consistent with the previous five Samsung ultra-deepwater drillships ordered since 2007, the new unit will have advanced capabilities to meet the demands of ultra-deepwater drilling in water depths of up to 12,000 feet and a total vertical drilling depth of 40,000 feet. New features on ENSCO DS-8 include retractable thrusters, enhanced safety and environmental features, improved dynamic positioning capabilities and advanced drilling and completion functionality including below-main-deck riser storage, triple fluid systems, offline conditioning capability and enhanced client and third-party facilities.

The new drillship is based on the proprietary Samsung GF12000 hull design measuring 755 feet in length and 125 feet in width. It will offer a payload in excess of 22,000 metric tons and a 1,250-ton hoisting system. The rig’s design and capabilities include numerous features that increase operating efficiency. Primary to these capabilities are enhanced and redundant offline tubular stand building features and a 165-ton active heave compensating construction crane, allowing for the deployment of subsea production equipment without interference with ongoing drilling operations. The rig, which will be initially outfitted for drilling in water depths of up to 10,000 feet, will be equipped with dynamic positioning in compliance with DPS-3 certification; six-5.5 megawatt thrusters for enhanced station-keeping; expanded drilling fluids capacity; a 15,000-psi subsea well control system with six rams, upgradable to seven rams and/or a second BOP stack; burner boom for well testing; and living quarters for up to 200 personnel.



ENSCO DS6

Ensco’s three active DP3 drillships are currently contracted into 2016 in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West Africa. A fourth, ENSCO DS-6, is currently at KeppelFELS undergoing some minor modifications in preparation for its first well assignment under a five-year contract with BP. ENSCO DS-7 is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2013.

Courtesy of various Drillship Designers

Drillships Listing



June 2013, ENSCO DS-10, advanced-capability DP3 ultra-deepwater drillship based on the Samsung GF12000 hull design will be the eighth Samsung DP3 drillship in the Ensco fleet, further extending the benefits of Ensco’s fleet standardization strategy. It will be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries, Co. Ltd. (SHI) shipyard in South Korea, with delivery scheduled for the third quarter of 2015. The agreement includes an option for an additional drillship of the same design.

ENSCO DS-8 and ENSCO DS-9, also based on the GF12000 hull design, are scheduled for delivery in 2014. Ensco is currently the only drilling contractor offering the advanced features of the GF12000 hull design.

Including commissioning, systems integration testing, project management and tubulars, the construction cost is expected to be approximately US$625 million. Measuring 755 feet in length and 125 feet in width, ENSCO DS-10 will offer a 1,250-ton hoisting system with enhanced offline capability. Like ENSCO DS-8 and ENSCO DS-9, the new unit will have advanced capabilities to meet the demands of ultra-deepwater drilling in water depths of up to 12,000 feet and a total vertical drilling depth of 40,000 feet. It will be initially outfitted to work in water depths up to 10,000 feet.

Features include: retractable thrusters; enhanced safety and environmental features; improved dynamic positioning capabilities; and advanced drilling and completion functionality, including below-main-deck riser storage, triple fluid systems and offline conditioning capability. The drillship also incorporates enhanced client and third-party facilities with living quarters for up to 200 personnel.

A 165-ton active heave compensating construction crane allows for deployment of subsea production equipment without interference with ongoing drilling operations. ENSCO DS-10 includes a 15,000-psi subsea well control system with seven rams and can accommodate a second BOP stack.

Ensco’s four active DP3 drillships are currently working in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West Africa. Three are contracted into 2016 and the fourth is contracted into 2018. A fifth drillship, ENSCO DS-7, scheduled for delivery later in 2013, is contracted to Total into 2016.

US based Rowan's one of three drillships, under construction in Korea, will work for Spanish oil giant Repsol at a day rate ranging from $614,000 to $624,000, depending on work location. The contract is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2014 following delivery in late 2013.

The drillship is expected to mobilize to West Africa for the first year of its commitment at an effective day rate of up to $624,000 per day. Repsol currently plans to move the Renaissance to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for the remaining 2 years, at which point, the effective day rate will be $614,000 per day.  Rowan Renaissance is the first of three Rowan’s drillships under construction at Hyundai Heavy Industries. The drillships of GustoMSC P10,000 design, once completed, will be capable of drilling wells to depths of 40,000 feet in waters of up to 12,000 feet.

Mr Keller says “We are encouraged, though not surprised, by the interest we’re getting in these very high-specification rigs from operators and remain optimistic about our ability to obtain attractive commitments for the other 2 drillships in the coming months. We also received an extension from Hyundai Heavy Industries for our option to build a fourth drillship. We now have until early September to exercise that option at a price substantially similar to what we are paying for the third rig. In the meantime, we continue to see good demand in upward pricing pressure in the high-spec jack-up markets around the world.”

Furthermore, Rowan sees significant strength in the ultra-deepwater drillship market: “We believe the market is ready to absorb additional ultra-deepwater units. We are currently tracking active requirements for 23 ultra-deepwater drillships, including several outstanding proposals. While we continue to monitor projects in the frontier regions of the world, the focus of recent tender activity has been the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and West Africa.”

Drillship - courtesy of  ROWAN 



From the launch of the "Pelican" in 1972 GustoMSC has been involved in the design and construction of DP drill ships. During the 90's GustoMSC developed a new generation drill ship, capable of drilling in maximum 10,000 ft water depth. In 2007 the development of the P10,000 was taken a significant step further, enhancing the design ready to step into the next generation.

One of the main features is the very large free deck area on both forward side and aft side of the drill floor. The vessel is specially developed to operate in water depths of 10,000 ft up to 12,000 ft and drilling activities to a total depth of 40,000 ft under the drill floor. The drill floor features a large racking setback capacity of 1,580 metric ton (1,750 st).

The design is equipped with a 165 mt heave compensated crane, for operations such as off-line subsea production tree handling, located just aft of the full double activity 4 million pounds derrick, making the vessel a ‘triple activity’ unit.

The ship’s DP system is DP3 compliant with station keeping ability and sufficient power to operate in typical Gulf of Mexico, Brazil or West Africa conditions.

Units built / under construction:

• Ensco DS-2 (formerly Pride Angola) 1999
• Ensco DS-1 (formerly Pride Africa) 1999
• GSF C.R. Luigs 1999
• GSF Jack Ryan 2000

• Deepwater Champion 2010
• Deepsea Metro I & II 2011

• Ocean BlackHawk & BlackHornet 2013
• Bolette Dolphin 2013
• Noble Don Taylor, Noble Bob Douglas,
  Noble Sam Croft & TBN 2013/2014

• Renaissance, Resolute & Reliance 2013/2014
• Ocean BlackRhino & Ocean BlackLion 2014

Principal dimensions and main particulars

• Length overall 229.6 m
• Length between perpendiculars 210.0 m
• Breadth (moulded) 36.0 m
• Depth at side 17.8 m
• Depth at centerline (moulded) 18.3 m
• Scantling draught 12.0 m

• Displacement (scantling draught) 76,000 t
• Deadweight (scantling draught) 44,500 t

Classification

The vessel, including her machinery, equipment and outfitting is designed and constructed under special survey of Det Norske Veritas, to obtain the Class notation:

✠ 1A1 Ship-shaped Drilling Unit E0
DYNPOS-AUTRO DRILL CRANE HELDK

                           Courtesy of NOV, downloaded from youtube. Ocean Black Rhino

Maersk Drilling has it's drillship fleet with advanced design and capabilities to include additional features for high efficiency operation such as dual derrick and large subsea work and storage areas, these allows for efficient well construction and field development activities through parallel and offline activities.

Maersk Drillship

The 228-metre long drillships will be able to operate at water depths up to 3,650 m (12,000 ft) and will be capable of drilling wells of more than 12,000 m (40,000 ft) deep. With their advanced positioning control systems, the ships automatically maintain a fixed position in severe weather conditions with waves up to 11 metres high and wind speeds up to 26 metres per second.

Special attention has been paid to onboard safety. The drillships are operated by relatively small crews, and are equipped with Multi Machine Control on the drill floor, providing a large degree of automation that ensures safe operation and consistent performance.

The main features of the vessel include:

•Multi Machine Control allows all standard operations such as stand building and tripping to be conducted without personnel on the drill floor. This ensures a high level of safety as well as consistency across crews.

•Dual pipe handling maximises uptime and drilling efficiency. While one string is working in the well bore, a second string operates independently. This way casing, drill pipe or bottom hole assembly can be assembled/disassembled and stored in the set-back area, ready for subsequent transfer for use in the well bore, significantly reducing non-productive time.

•The travelling system(crown sheaves, travelling block and main well centre top drive) has a 1,250 tons capacity, enabling a total drilling depth of 12,200 m/40,000 ft.

•Dual mud system ensures efficient change between mud types and completion fluids.

•Spacious accommodation for 230 people and considerable storage and tank capacity for long range and extended time operational capabilities.

•Hands free riser for safe handling of stand building.

•Dedicated guided gantry cranes for BOP and subsea trees handling.

Courtesy of Maersk - Deepwater Drillship

Courtesy of Maersk Drilling

Maersk Drilling has been in the forefront of offshore drilling and she has operated jack-up drilling rigs for more than 40 years in the North Sea as well as in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico.  It is a worldwide organisation with 110,000 employees and offices in 125 countries, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. In addition to owning one of the world's largest shipping companies, comprising more than 500 container vessels, the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group is involved in a wide range of activities within the energy, shipbuilding, retail and manufacturing industries. KeppelFELS has already built a few high end drilling jack-ups and semi submersibles for Maersk and currently is still ongoing with the building of three CJ-70 jackup for the company.

Other Maersk facts:

 

•Second youngest fleet among peers

•First to drill a subsea well from a jack-up (wet BOP)

•Experienced in jacket installation using draw-works

•Extensive HP/HT experience
•Subsea work performed from our jack-ups
•Experienced in working with underbalanced drilling (UBD) tools

•Experienced in combined drilling and production on jack-ups

Rig Fleet - Courtesy of Maersk Drilling

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. announced in 2012, that one of its subsidiaries had entered into a turnkey construction contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (“DSME”) to construct a third ultra-deepwater drillship, to be named the Atwood Admiral, at the DSME yard in South Korea.

Houston-based Atwood Oceanics has three ultra-deepwater drillships under construction in South Korea, to be delivered 2013, 2014 and 2015. Atwood’s wholly owned subsidiary, Alpha Eagle, entered into turnkey construction contracts with Daewoo Shipbuilding in 2011/12.

The three ships will be dynamically-positioned (DP3), with dual derricks, capable of operating in water depths to 12,000ft and drilling to 40,000ft. They will be classed by DNV and registered in the Marshall Islands.

Two yards in South Korea have received a steady stream of orders. More surprising is the volume of orders going to a shipyard in Brazil. Nina Rach explains the details.
The first construction contract, for the Atwood Advantage drillship, was announced in January 2011, with delivery scheduled for September this year, at a total cost of about $600 million. The ship will have enhanced technical capabilities: a seven-ram blowout preventer; three, 100 ton-knuckle boom cranes; a 165-ton active-heave ‘tree-running’ knuckle boom crane; and 200 person accommodation.

The second construction contract, for the Atwood Achiever, was announced in October 2011, and the drillship is to be delivered June 2014, at a cost of about $600 million. The Atwood Achiever will be similar to the previously announced Atwood Advantage.


The third construction contract, for the Atwood Admiral, was announced in September last year 2012, and the drillship is to be delivered in March 2015, at a cost of about $635 million, including two blowout preventers (“BOPs”), project management, drilling and handling tools and spares. The company recently increased the accordion under its senior secured credit facility by $200 million to a total of $550 million, which, together with available cash and cash flows from operations, is expected to fully fund the construction of the Atwood Admiral. Upon delivery, the Atwood Admiral will become the sixteenth mobile offshore drilling unit owned by the company.

The design of the Atwood Admiral will be identical to the previously ordered Atwood Advantage and Atwood Achiever – all three are DP-3 dynamically-positioned, dual derrick ultra-deepwater drillships rated to operate in water depths up to 12,000 feet and drill to a depth of up to 40,000 feet. The Atwood Admiral will also offer two seven-ram BOPs, three 100-ton knuckle boom cranes, a 165-ton active heave “tree-running” knuckle boom crane, and accommodations for up to 200 persons.

Seven ultra-deepwater drillships are under contract to be built at the Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz shipyard in Brazil.

Drillship Layout.pdf