The most important asset - Yourself

From the Business Times February, 2013

Your most important asset is - yourself

Unlike stocks and bonds, you have full control over your human capital

WHAT is probably your most important asset? Stocks? Bonds? Real estate? Collectibles? None of the above. It is human capital. Although most of the focus in wealth planning is on financial assets, human capital is the one thing you can bring to the table that can have the most impact on your future. Yet few advisers stop to measure it fully and discuss its impact on your prosperity.

You have a surprising degree of control over your human capital, unlike the financial markets. You can switch jobs, obtain graduate degrees or simply work more as an independent contractor or partner in a professional firm. In contrast, you have no control over what stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate and other assets return every year.

So consider human capital a measurable return on investment - in yourself.

The stodgy economist's definition of human capital is the net present value of lifetime earnings. This is what you will earn based on the skills, experience and talent you contribute to the labour market. For some, this is a fixed quantity, but in a dynamic world where people are increasingly shifting careers, working longer or pursuing "encore" careers, human capital is a moving target.

Yet estimating human capital is a bit like trying to guess your life expectancy. Life throws us a lot of curves and income gauges look easy to calculate as they emerge from a software programme. Nevertheless, you need to do some projections of lifetime earnings, and potential changes in your income stream, to make a realistic, flexible and holistic financial plan.

Zvi Bodie, a professor of finance at Boston University and co-author of Risk Less and Prosper (Wiley, 2012), says it is essential to know your human capital factor because it ties into how much risk you can take in your financial portfolio. Prof Bodie has been a pioneer in applying economic life-cycle theory to human capital decisions.

Some, with a fairly secure income over their career - such as college professors - may take more risk in their portfolios, while others whose income is linked to cyclical industries may not. You can characterise your human capital like a stable bond or an insecure stock. This is one of the first steps in linking your human capital to how much risk you may take in your portfolio.

"I see myself, for example, as a convertible bond," Prof Bodie said. "I'm protected by tenure at a solid university and have the potential to do extra things for income. I have a lot more capacity to take risk in my portfolio than I choose to use. I'm risk-averse, don't like to gamble and don't get a kick out of winning. I hate to lose."

Noting that "human capital is not a major asset for only a tiny fraction of the population", Prof

Bodie said that lifetime earnings and portfolio management should be reframed as a way of insuring a standard of living and not a focus on obtaining the highest returns.

Figuring human capital into a prudent financial plan requires an attention to detail that most financial advisers may not be able to handle. Because most advisers are focused on managing money or picking investments, they may not be able to do the right calculations that are flexible enough to accommodate changes in income.

Paula Hogan, a fee-only certified financial planner based in Milwaukee, has been employing human capital and the life-cycle theory that underpins it into her business model for years. Like most planners, she carefully examines cash flow, expenses, income and her client's portfolio.

"A key insight of life-cycle theory," Ms Hogan said, "is that the consideration of human capital comes first and then portfolio management comes after that: financial capital is tailored to the human capital, not vice versa." Ms Hogan also steps into the realm of "life" planning that merges human capital with various goals and changes in a person's journey. This raises a set of questions that go beyond numbers. "What do you care about?" Ms Hogan said she asks clients. "Do you have a vision of where you want to be?"

Career counselling

If they want to change, the questions become more focused on transition. "How can we make a bridge? What about health insurance? Will you need a new family budget? Do you have family reserves (savings)? Is your spouse on board?"

Sometimes the transitions are modest, as for an executive at the top of his profession whom she counselled. He wanted to "not go at full tilt" and spend more time doing other things. Other, more radical moves, such as a career change, will require more support. Ms Hogan works with career coaches and counsellors such as Jane Schroeder of Brookfield, Wisconsin to manage the vocational piece.

As a master career counsellor and board-certified coach with a background in educational psychology, Ms Schroeder applies standard assessment tools such as the Myers-Briggs personality test and talks with clients on future direction. She delves into their core strengths, competencies, emotional intelligence and "brainstorms on possibilities".

"What allows you to engage your human capital at the highest level?" she asks clients. "When were you at your best? What was happening? What was energising?"

By re-engaging clients with the force that drives their ability to create, manage or earn money in a fulfilling way, Ms Schroeder eases the transition that some need to make.

It is one thing to know if you need to make a change, but is that possible, given your financial situation? Will you have enough cash reserves to see you through a transition? Will a spouse or partner support your household while you make some changes or re-educate yourself?

Before you even make the decision to redeploy your human capital, you will need to run some numbers to see if it is possible. Online planning programmes such as ES Planner (esplanner.com) can give you some general ideas on what is possible given changing income and cash flow.

While these questions may be difficult at first, they may help you forge a satisfying new path. But you will need to take your time and do some detailed planning that may involve a paradigm change. Your personal capital reserve and future earnings should drive your ability to make a change and not your portfolio return. That is a big leap for most, but a rewarding one if you are able to navigate it.

The 61st B-Class jackup ordered since 2000

April 2013, KeppelFels to build a fourth jack-up rig based on its KFELS B-Class design but with bigfoot (bigger spudcan size).

The rig, Ensco 110, is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2015 and will be constructed under a fixed-price contract. The cost, which includes commissioning, systems integration testing and project management, has been valued at about US$225 million according to website info. The company already has three active rigs based on the KFELS B Class Bigfoot design – Ensco 106, Ensco 107 and Ensco 108. The rig will be capable of working at water depths of up to 400 feet and drilling to 30,000 feet deep. It will have a nominal variable deck load of 7500 kips and a cantilever load of 2500 kips.

Upon completion in 2015, Ensco 110 will be the 16th newbuild project delivered to Ensco by Keppel.

The first B-class jackup was for Chiles Offshore signed in year 2000. It was after much engineering time spent, a small team from here together with OTD supporting ( Offshore shallow water research and designing arm ) met with Chiles Offshore in AMFELS exactly 13 years ago around April Year 2000. Some of us were at AMFELS finalizing some technical issues on the rig design with Chiles Offshore VP of Engineering, Mr Gabe Padilla. He is very well-versed with machinery and piping systems installed on jackup rigs and good in sketching on the whiteboard detail engineering where he could discuss any kind of information right at his finger tips.

The first KFELS MOD V "B" was Chiles Discovery (now renamed ENSCO 104) built and delivered by Keppel FELS in Singapore in year 2002, and currently deployed in the Bayu-Undan field in Timor Sea for Phillips Petroleum Company.

In year 2000, the newbuild jackup market is the only sector of the drilling industry where new contracts have been signed. In the last few months of that yeaor, Chile7s Offshore, Rowan, and Maersk signed contracts to build three new high-specification jackups:

•The Chiles vessel will be a KFELS MOD V "B" design, cantilevered jackup. Th7e rig will be an "ultra-premium" deepwater jackup built with a leg length of 475 ft, with an option to extend it to 545 ft.

•Rowan is building the Gorilla VIII, an enhanced version of the company's Super Gorilla Class rigs, called the Super Gorilla XL. The Gorilla VIII will be outfitted with 708 ft of leg, 134 ft more than the Super Gorillas, and have 30% larger spud cans for working in water depths up to 400 ft, making it the jackup with the deepest water capability.

•Maersk has contracted for what it calls "the world's largest and most advanced harsh environment jack-up." The rig will have 205 meters of leg for operation in water depths up to 150 meters in harsh environment conditions. It will also have double the variable load capacity and drilling envelope of traditional rigs.

ENSCO 105 is the second MOD V "B" new generation deep-well drilling rig that has been completed in AMFELS few months after CHiles Discovery (ENSCO104). The total cost of construction and outfitting for the ENSCO 105 was in excess of US$100 million (S$175m), of which work performed by AMFELS formed a major portion.

At the rig's christening ceremony in AMFELS, Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman and CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine said, "The design and construction of the two KFELS MOD V "B" class jack-ups is a significant milestone for Keppel as we seek to deliver quality products and services to customers at competitive prices. "We are privileged to have participated in the growth and expansion of the fleet of ENSCO rigs in the last few years. We built ENSCO 101, an enhanced MOD V harsh environment jack-up in year 2000. This year alone, we delivered three jack-ups to the company, namely, ENSCO 102, ENSCO 104 and now ENSCO 105."

chiles discovery1.ppt ..

ENSCO 104.pdf ..

In May 2002 :

ENSCO International Incorporated and Chiles Offshore Inc. announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement by which ENSCO will acquire Chiles. The Boards of both companies have approved the transaction. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Chiles' stockholders will receive 0.6575 shares of ENSCO common stock, plus cash of $5.25, for each share of Chiles' common stock. Total value of the transaction is approximately $578 million based on ENSCO's closing price as of May 14, 2002. After giving effect to the transaction and including the Chiles' rig currently under construction, the combined company will have a fleet of 56 offshore drilling rigs, in addition to ENSCO's fleet of 28 Gulf of Mexico oilfield support vessels. The combined fleet will include 43 premium jackup rigs, with 29 rigs, or two thirds of the fleet, having been built or rebuilt since 1995. ENSCO's Chairman and CEO, explained the strategic reasons for the transaction. "The acquisition of Chiles will increase ENSCO's exposure to the premium jackup market through the addition of the newest and one of the most capable fleets in the industry. We believe that this is a prudent way for ENSCO to grow, adding to the high-end of our jackup fleet, without impacting industry supply, and without increasing our financial leverage. We expect this transaction to be accretive to our shareholders from day one, both in terms of earnings and cash flow. We anticipate that ENSCO's long-term debt to total capitalization ratio will remain at 24 percent after giving effect to the transaction. "Chiles and ENSCO have similar operating philosophies

What some of the Rig contractors/operators discussed about drilling rigs and outlook back in 2000  (some of the discussions and extracts may not be concurring or accurate anymore with the current trend and what was discussed during that period ) :

The general rule of thumb in the industry is that a drilling unit has a natural life of about 25 years. According to statistics from Bassoe Offshore, almost 40 units of the jackup fleet has reached this age limit and by definition should be retired. But some disagree with this limit.

"The offshore industry is relatively young, and to a certain degree, rules are being made up as we go along," said Bassoe Offshore Consultants Ltd. "Until fairly recently, drilling contractors used the criteria of shipowners when it came to deciding on the useful lives of their rigs. This dictated that it was uneconomic to keep a ship, and hence a rig, past its 20th or 25th year, when particularly onerous and expensive special surveys are due."

"However, as the first modern offshore drilling rigs were not delivered until the early 1970s, it was not until the 1990s that they reached this anniversary and owners were confronted with requirements. While older, redundant designs tended to be scrapped, it became apparent to contractors that, provided the basic design of the rig was acceptable to operators, there was no need to retire a rig at 20 years. This is because the offshore drilling procedures have not changed, so the original hulls, provided they are in good condition and adaptable to the more sophisticated (although essentially the same) machinery that is now in use, remain perfectly acceptable"
These rigs are being extended to 25-30 years, and some cases, beyond that. For standard wells that are not technically challenging, the older rigs work fine. They are not as efficient, but they work fine," concurred Bill Chiles, then President of Chiles Offshore.

Rowan, added, "Jackup rigs that were built prior to 1970 are so obsolete that no one will put any money into trying to upgrade them. Prior to that time, there was no class for jackup rigs. Then the US Lands Act Amendment came in and rigs built prior to then had a number of grandfather provisions. If you look at rigs built from 1978 on, most of them are of sufficient value that people would continue to do upgrades."

Rig design :

While age is an issue, the real factor limiting the usefulness of a jackup is design. "If a rig is properly designed and properly maintained, it has an infinite life," said Bob Rose, President of Global Marine. "Theoretically, if a design is competitive and you've maintained it, it can last forever. The industry used to think that they all had a 20-year life. Now we know that they last a lot longer than 20 years," he added. - Santa Fe's Galaxy III is one of the new fleet of jackups.

So the question now becomes: which designs are capable of being extended for longer and more useful life?

The limiting factors are chiefly variable loading and integrity of the structure. Most contractors said that, of the designs in operation, the independent leg rigs with a rack and pinion jacking system were the most suitable for upgrade. These include the LeTourneau designs, the Friede & Goldman L-780, and the Livingston 111. At the same time, most said that a majority of the mat jackups could not be economically upgraded.

Pride said, "Mat jackups are suitable for soft bottoms and are not suitable for every type of seabed environment. For example, the units do not have the capability of being upgrading to harsh environment jackups, but they can drill wells just as well as any other jackup, once on location."

Maintenance, inspection :

During inspections, contractors can determine the future of a drilling unit. Every year, each rig goes through an annual classification society test. Every five years, each undergoes mandatory testing to maintain class. Additionally, on five year schedules, the rigs undergo periodic surveys to check structural integrity.

When rigs do not meet the requirements of these tests, then retirement becomes a real option. The most stringent of the regulatory areas is the North Sea, where jackups must meet harsh environmental criteria. While this could result in retirement, some companies just move the rigs to another areas of the world. If a rig is in class, then it is by definition capable of operating.

Upgrading units  :

The overall consensus among drilling contractors is to upgrade rather than purchase a new rig. The decision comes down to a return on capital deployed. If a company can make the necessary return on capital based on the cost of the construction program, it will be done. The average upgrade costs for a jackup vary, depending on construction. The lowest average is about $3 million, and $40 million on the high side. This compares to $100 million average for new construction. If the resulting productivity is the same, then the numbers favor the upgrade.

There are limits on what can be done to jackups. The most common upgrades involve adding leg, extending cantilevers, adding jetting systems to assist in pulling legs, adding horsepower, adding additional pumping capacity to help pre-load faster, and adding owner furnished equipment, which in itself is interchangeable.

The most upgradeable of the designs has proven to be the LeTourneau designs, post 1978. This is the only design that offers the advantage of being able to add leg. Rowan said that the majority of the rigs came with 410 ft of leg and that they now know the units can by upgraded to 477 ft. This involves strapping the leg to increase the strength of the leg and adding additional gear units to gain variable load.

Three recent upgrades were executed by Noble Drilling. The company upgraded the Bill Jennings, Leonard Jones, and Eddie Paul rigs, all 300 ft independent leg slot rigs. The company performed the upgrade because they did not have the cantilever reach necessary for development projects. The upgrades included adding leg lengths to 500 ft on each leg and reinforcing the legs so that the units could operate in water depths greater than 350 ft. In addition, the company added 65 ft and 70 ft reach cantilevers on the rigs. The company said that the upgrade made them more desirable, supported by the fact that since the upgrades, the rigs have not been off contract.

"If they can't charge enough money for the rig to justify its ownership then they scrap it, and I think you will see that, if you look at some of the rigs that are cold stacked in the Gulf of Mexico. Some will face multi-million dollar refurbishment plans and the owners will not do it,"  said Rowan.

"The niche market we are looking for is the deeper water locations, those that require extended reach cantilever, or wells that are technically very challenging - deep, high temperature, high angle," Chiles said.

"If someone is drilling an exploratory well and they don't need this higher capability, we run head-to-head with those rigs. For development drilling over a platform, we have an edge. And, if the well is a difficult well where the customer needs to run multiple casing strings, the wellhead design on a floater limits the number of contingent casing strings that can be designed at the wellbore."

Rowan added in support of new Gorillas: "What helps us is that virtually anyone drilling a subsalt or high temperature well will want to have a bottom supported unit, or if they are going to be looking at well problems." All three rigs are being built on spec, without a confirmed operator contract.

Speculative business :

Most newbuild jackups have been fabricated without a firm contract. The reason for this, Rose (Global Marine) explains, is that it is difficult to get a long-term contract on a jackup. "Long-term contracts are the exception rather than the rule on a jackup. Jackups are going to have to get very, very tight before you get term contracts," he said.

Chiles, who has constructed two of these high-spec jackups, concurs. "It's the nature of the beast. There are just no long-term contracts available in the jackup world with exception of a few in foreign areas. Certainly in the Gulf of Mexico, the operators are reluctant to sign long-term contracts."

Rowan said that spec building will always continue in the jackup market. "I don't think you will ever see a long term contract on a jackup, for several reasons. The first is that very few companies have long-term programs for jackup drilling rigs, unlike ultra deepwater, where the large number of tracks ensure use of the unit for three to five years. The shelf in the Gulf of Mexico is about 85% independent operators now, and very few of these independents have more than four or five wells in front of them that they can commit to. So you just don't have the demand there with a single customer for a long period of time. And there are a lot more of us in the jackup business willing to build a jackup on spec."

Rowan does have a competitive advantage, however. The company owns Marathon LeTourneau, which owns the LeTourneau designs and the LeTourneau shipyard, where all of Rowan's rigs are built. This helps ease some of the finances of speculative building. In his defense, Palmer said, "That advantage didn't exist until 1995, and we have been building jackup rigs for 32 years." Global Marine, Noble, Pride, and Santa Fe representatives all said their companies would not build without a contract.

Below shows a listing of Keppel rigs built and to build. It could be seen from past and present that the trend of speculative rigs ordered without contracts is still high and seems like it will continue for some time probably till the shallow water drilling rig market starts to be saturated..... who knows when ?

keppel jackup rigs to-date.pdf ..

One of the workhorses in GOM offshore

In 2011, LeTourneau Technologies announced it has entered into a contract to furnish a kit and license to Lamprell Energy, Ltd. ("Lamprell") for the construction of Lamprell's sixth Super 116E class self-elevating Mobile Offshore Drilling Platform ("jack-up"). This rig will be outfitted with 477 feet of leg designed to operate in water depths of up to 350 feet and will have a 1.5 million pound hook load for a rated drilling depth of 30,000 feet.

The rig will be built at Lamprell's Hamriyah facility located in the United Arab Emirates for Greatship Global Energy Services of Singapore. Rig delivery is expected in the fourth quarter 2012. Lamprell currently has three additional Super 116E class jack-ups under construction under license from LeTourneau. These transactions demonstrate LeTourneau's strong commitment for international growth through the supply of state-of-the-art rig designs, rig kits, and drilling equipment.

LeTourneau's delivery of the kit, which includes the rig's leg components, jacking system, cranes and certain other components, will occur in stages in accordance with the rig construction schedule. The initial delivery is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2011 and the final delivery during the second quarter of 2012.

This marks the 25th order for the LeTourneau Super 116 series of jack-ups, of which 8 others are currently under construction. The Super 116E is one of four current LeTourneau jackup rig designs and an evolution of the industry's original workhorse, the LeTourneau 116-C design. The Super 116E provides over 3,000 kips greater payload than its predecessor along with the enhanced cantilever package offering 70 ft reach and 2,650 kip drill load capacity. The rig is designed to drill in up to 350 feet of water in moderate environmental locations and can be outfitted to handle high temperature/high pressure wells.

LeTourneau built the world's first jack-up drilling rig in 1955 and is an acknowledged leader in the supply of offshore jack-up drilling rigs today. LeTourneau has designed and been involved in the construction of approximately one-third of all jack-up rigs in service.

LeTourneau's vision is to be recognized by our customers as designing, building and supporting the most innovative, capable and reliable equipment for developing the world's natural resources.

Two years on, in DUBAI, January 2013, Lamprell has delivered the newbuild jackup Greatdrill Chaaya to Greatship Global Energy Services.

Work was completed 18 months after initial steel cutting and within budget. The rig left Lamprell’s Hamriyah facility last week for a drilling location offshore India, where it is contracted to ONGC.

Greatdrill Chaaya, weighing 10,394 metric tons (11,457 tons) at delivery, is a LeTourneau Super 116E (Enhanced) design with a self-elevating 477-ft (145-m) leg system.

Lamprell modified the spud can design in order to reduce the soil bearing pressure expected at the offshore location.

The company has now completed construction of 12 newbuild jackups, five of the LeTourneau Super 116 E design and seven of the Friede & Goldman Super M2 design. The company has seven more LeTourneau rigs undergoing various stages of construction.

Rig Designs

We are small fry.... forget first world hype



From The Straits Times January 2013

In a Civil Service career spanning 40 years, Ngiam Tong Dow has served as Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade and Trade, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of National Development. Concurrently he also chaired the Singapore Economic Development Board, the Development Bank of Singapore, Sheng-Li Holdings (restructured to be Singapore Technologies Holdings), the Singapore Telephone Board which merged with the Telecommunications Department to become the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore.

Mr Ngiam Tong Dow's worry for singaporean is that it has begun to believe it's own propaganda that it has arrived as first world city. He said in the article that it is a complete delusion on our part to think that Singapore can become first world city such as New York, London and Tokyo. As a little red dot, we suffer from inherent limitation of "space, size of population, depth of talent pools and political influence".   He says Singapore should focus on being a solid “second upper" city. It is more realisitic to position ourselves as the best in class to the world’s 2^nd tier international cities such as Zurich, Boston, Sydney. These are cities with approx. 5 million  of well educated people and they compete on knowledge.

 

The differentiator for successful cities is not cheap labour but competent labour. Singapore over the past decade has pumped up workers skill for higher level jobs and improving standards of schools ( p/s : and now the polytechnics and expansion of universities have been vigorously taking steps by the ministry of education ). Asking the right question today is the most important factor for Singapore future sustainability. Example the question on right size of Singapore population. He charges that authorities debated how to create higher density city with highrise flats but that is only a physical constraint and not economic constraint. He said the question should be whether we could sustain the economic livelihood of 6 million people. He wants to see what kind of Singapore his grandchildren will see in years from now. The best way to view Singapore as a work in progress.. like climbing up a mountain to success and never to arrive there. The moment you reach the summit, the only way is down. Likewise in Singapore , we should not believe we are already First world or that we have reached the pinnacle.

I quite agreed with above article and also think it is true in the perspective of space of our local shipyards compare to other countries like China, Korea,etc..  ..  are we able to beat them in productivity with our limited resources and infrastructure ??? Not possible to-date... wait till Sembawang Mega Yard starts operational another year's time.....

Refer below study report giving the insights on other  country yard sustainability and competitiveness  

TOPIC: Sustaining competitive advantage in the global economy

TITLE: Competition in the shipbuilding industry
AUTHORS: Anh Nam Sung is a professor at SolBridge International School of Business.

 Competition in shipbuilding industry   

   

Below article also relates to size and competitiveness in view of Singapore's landscape and population. Technology will be the focus for the country to survive and  key to success if we wish to compete with others.

 

18Jan2013 Excerpts From Straits Times

SINGAPORE is positioning itself to take advantage of global megatrends that will shape the decades ahead, said Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang. Megatrends set to change the way we live include: Asia's growing importance and economic integration, urbanisation, and changing demographics and technology.

Mr Lim said: "We are too small to influence global developments and events... what we can do is align Singapore's position in anticipation of the major trends and be nimble enough to ride through short-term volatility."

Mr Lim was speaking at the Credit Suisse Global Megatrends Conference at W Singapore Sentosa Cove Hotel yesterday.

Megatrends are key economic, social and political forces which are relevant across decades. They are usually long term in their effect, involving a steep change in a region's economic growth rate.

One key trend is Asia's rising importance and the economic integration taking place in the region.

The Asian Development Bank predicts that Asia will account for more than half of global economic output and own half of the world's financial assets and institutions by mid-century, he noted.

He added: "This projection is one of many which are reflective of the optimism and growth potential that we see not just in China, but (also) Indonesia and other South-east Asian countries."

It is not just China's rising consumption, but also India, whose middle class is tipped to surge to nearly 600 million by 2025, and Indonesia, where almost 60 per cent of households are expected to be middle class by 2020.

Asian countries are also expected to consume and trade more with one another as developing economies in the region become wealthier, he noted.

Singapore is strategically well-poised to benefit from these trends, as it is positioned as a hub for the globe to capitalise on Asia's growth. He said: "Singapore exists at the confluence of these emerging trade routes within Asia and between Asia and other regions."

Another major trend is urbanisation and sustainability, as global economic growth puts more stress on the environment. The world's 23 megacities are forecast to double in number by 2030, with most new megacities in South and East Asia, he said.

Singapore can play its part. The annual World Cities Summit held here serves as "a platform for the exchange of leading-edge ideas on building liveable and sustainable cities", said Mr Lim.

The country is also keenly involved in sustainability research, with two ongoing programmes on energy resilience, and land and liveability, he said.

Demographics are another key trend. Developing countries with young, growing workforces have the challenge of creating enough jobs, while advanced economies face rapidly ageing populations. Developed countries can import young labour or use technology to make up for an ageing workforce.

Mr Lim said Singapore is positioning itself to attract companies to monitor and make sense of these changes within Asia. For instance, the Asian Consumer Insights Institute based here is helping companies develop and test Asian-specific business strategies and products.

Technology is also a major trend, reshaping the social compact between states and citizens, said Mr Lim. "The trend of more data and greater openness will continue," he said.

Singapore has tapped into the data revolution rather early, he noted, making 5,000 data sets from more than 50 government agencies available to the public.

Meanwhile, Credit Suisse has designed a traffic light system for outlook to aid investors for its megatrends framework.

Themes with a poor score will get a red signal, indicating an underweight rating or time to take profit. Those with high scores will get a green light, denoting an overweight call or time to build exposure. Scores are based on various factors such as long-term growth prospects, relative valuations and price trend.

More on various offshore rig related operations .....

Jackup on the wet tow :

Jackup moves to different well platform locations and are wet towed by tug vessels as shown below video clip. There are many different ways of towing the rig and they could comprises :

- Double tow – 2 tows each connected to the same tug with separate towlines. One towline is of sufficient length that the catenary to the second vessel is below that of the first.

- Tandem tow – 2 (or more) tows in series behind 1 tug, i.e. the second and following tows connected to stern of the previous one.

- Parallel tow – the method of towing 2 (or more) tows, using one tow wire, where the second (or subsequent) tow(s) is connected to a point on the tow wire ahead of the preceding tow, and with each subbsequent towing pennant passing beneath the preceding tow.

- Two tugs (in series) towing one tow – where there is only 1 towline connected to the tow and the leading tug is connected to the bow of the second tug.

- More than 1 tug (in parallel) towing one tow – each tug connected by its own towline, pennant or bridle to the tow.

Before start of any transit voyage, the main and emergency towing arrangements should be check to be in good working condition and ready for used. All anchor handling equipment, charts etc., required for the move should be ordered and the fixed rig equipment checked.

Prior to the commencement of and during, transit voyage weather forecasts with minimum 72 hours outlook must be obtained from two independent recognised weather service centre. The forecasts may be ordered from a company maintaining such service for the question. Weather forecasts and current charts must be studied carefully so that the best use is made of weather windows and favorable tides.

The Barge Engineer is responsible for preparing the unit prior to a rig move, as per specific chekclist. During transit, the vessel must follow rules and display lights and signals applicable to vessels. The unit shall be secured with all watertight doors/ hatches shut and dogged. Only essential access doors necessary for the operation should be used. The watertight integrity of all compartments must be ensured.

There will be a transportation route study to evaluate the design environmental criteria. This is normally carried out when a voyage-specific motion analysis has to be carried out. A stability study to demonstrate that the carrier vessel, in the case of a dry transport, or the hull of the transported vessel, in the case of a wet tow ( see video below ), meet the requirements of the IMO or the classification society. The analyses are normally carried out using the generic wind speeds of 100 knots for intact stability assessment and 70 knots for damaged stability. Lower wind speeds are sometimes considered on a case-by-case basis for restricted tows in sheltered waters.

Typically Motions and accelerations study and analyses are carried out with the voyage specific environmental criteria using diffraction or strip theories. In the absence of such meteorological data, deterministic motions are often used. A structural assessment taking into account the loads associated with the motions and accelerations.

For example, the most common deterministic motions criteria are those by Noble Denton for flat bottom cargo barges and other types of carrier vessels.

The criteria are:

20" roll angle in 10 s period & 0.2 g heave acceleration, 12.5" pitch angle in 10 s period & 0.2 g heave acceleration.

When deriving the voyage-specific environmental data for the transportation route, the 10-yr return environment is normally considered. Given the temporary nature of the transportation phase, the data is normally derived specifically for the departure month so as to take advantage of seasonal variations. The transportation route is normally split into several sectors within which the environment is assumed to be uniform, eg the route sector between korea and north sea. The duration of exposure within each of those sectors is calculated based on the vessel speed. Given that the exposure periods are normally less than 1 month, the environmental data may be reduced to allow for the shorter exposure periods.

Transportation routes are selected based on the economic. environmental and safety considerations. The following factors could be considered:

The environmental conditions along the transport route affect the motions of the vessel and the voyage speed. The weather conditions after the commencement of the transport operation often dictate local deviations from the planned route.

The existence of safe havens. As part of a contingency planning, particularly for long transports, safe havens have to be identified in case the conditions require the vessel to seek refuge in a port.

Vessel or cargo dimensions and hull draft which restrict passage below certain obstructions, such as bridges, or in shallow water or through locks and waterways. Costs of the passage through canals, such as the Suez Canal.

Offshore rig operation ( Article to be added )

Rig Punch through:

Three-legged offshore drilling jack-up rigs are commonly used for oil and gas explorations. Each leg is supported by a spudcan foundation with diameter between 10 m to 25 m. In sand overlying clay, the installation of spudcans is often subjected to a potential punch-through hazard. This occurs when the applied load exceeds the maximum bearing resistance of the upper sand layer causing the spudcan to plunge into the underlying clay. Such failures often result in a huge financial loss and cost millions of dollars to rectify. Punch through failure occurs when a strong soil layer of limited thickness overlies a weaker layer of soil. Pressure produced by the applied footing loads transmits in both downward and lateral direction thereby creating a less pressure in the weaker soil.

It is reasonable to assume an angle of 21 degree of load spread. While the tansmitted pressure in the weaker soil layer exceeds the bearing capacity of that layer, a punch-through of the footing would happen even though the bearing capacity of the overlying stronger layer is sufficient to sustain the load.

Normally a safety factor of 1.5 is applied to compare the bearing capacity of the weak layer to the pressure transmitted by the spud can and portion of the hard layer delimited by the angle of 21.degree of load spread.

The generally rapid penetration of one or more spud cans into the weaker layer will continue until:

- The soil offers enough adequate resistance. The soil bearing capacity increases with depth.

- If the drop is large, with the increasing buoyancy of the hull as it enters the water.

The sudden penetration of the leg causes sudden inclination of the rig and consequently large lateral deformations, even fracture of the leg. The importance of to follow strict preload procedures at the proper air gap is vital. If a punch through occurs during a storm in the drilling mode, the result is most probably catastrophic.

Sometimes It may happen that the rig operator decides to bring another JU back to the location where a previous JU left with old foot prints (the holes left by the leg and spud can) in the sea bottom. After the spud cans are extracted, the hole wall may partially collapse. The holes fill in with the time. That gives crater like depressions at the sea bottom. The soil in the pockmark is very disturbed and has very low shear strength. Therefore, if a spud can of a new JU locates too close to the old footprint, the soil below the spud can would fail laterally and lateral load is applied to the spud can creating leg bending. This failure can cause a rapid penetration, similar to a punch through and a leg fracture.

The “rule of thumb “of choosing a new JU to come back to the location is:

The edge-to-edge distance between the new spud can and the old foot print should be at least one half of the spud can diameter.

courtesy of maersk training

Offshore Rig well test flaring :

Well Testing Operations generally below but there could be more or less steps depending on different rig operator and their safety philosophies may varies :

The following preparations should be carried out on the rig in advance of the test:

1. The BOP stack should be tested.

2. An adequate volume of properly weighted mud should be available.

3. The OIM should schedule BOP, fire, and H2S drill prior to the testing.

4. Fire hoses should be laid out in the vicinity of the burners and surface testing equipment. Fire extinguishers should be placed close to the surface equipment.

5. Spare arrestor, remote shut down system, over-revving system and diesel leak automatic shut down system should be installed on the mobile air compressor, if used.

6. The OIM, Clients Representative and Testing Engineer should hold a pre‑test meeting attended by all parties concerned with the test to ensure that the expected course of events, responsibilities and contingency measures are fully understood.

7. The OIM should schedule a safety meeting with the whole crew prior to the test. All personnel should be made aware of test expectations and restrictions imposed during testing, i.e. welding radio use, helicopters, use of cranes over well test area etc.

8. Hazardous areas should be clearly marked off.

9. All required H2S equipment is to be onboard and tested.

10. Dispersion chemicals should be stored on standby boat.

11. The standby boat and helicopter base should be advised that the test is about to commence.

12. The OIM and Clients Representative should give notice that the test is commencing. 

Preparations In Advance Of The Test

1. All surface lines, the separator and flow-tank should be flushed with water.

2. The cooling sprays on the burners and rig should be checked and any plugged jets cleared.

3. Surface lines, separator with its relief valve, gas heater, choke manifold, lubricator valve, subsea test tree and surface test tree should be pressure tested. Relief valve will not have to be lifted if calibrated on shore just prior to job and witnessed by Certifying Authorities.

4. The wireline lubricator and its assembly on the surface test tree should be checked and pressure tested.

5. The activation of the surface test tree safety valve, subsea test tree valves and lubricator valve should be checked.

6. The burner ignition system should be checked.

7. The separator flowmeter should be calibrated by pumping water through them into the flowtank. The separator controls to be checked.

8. The lengths, OD, ID and threads of all downhole test tools should be checked and a tally of the test string made.

9. The packer should be checked to ensure that it is correctly made up for the size and weight of casing in which it is to be set.

10. The actuation of downhole valves should be checked.

11. The dimensions of the subsea test tree and slick joint should be checked to ensure that the tree will locate correctly in the wellhead and BOP.

12. Gauges, hangers and gauge dimensions should be checked to ensure that they will locate correctly in the carriers.

13. All electrical lights, outlets, switches shall be checked in the general area of the well test units.

· Check that well test equipment layout conforms to plan submitted and approved by certifying authority.

· Lay out, measure and drift testing string (Ref. Test Programme and Well Test Supervisor on board for items/procedures required). Tally same and prepare running order.

· Check all handling equipment required: elevators, slips, safety clamps, lift subs, crossovers etc. Ensure fishing equipment available for fishing test tools and tubing used. Ensure that correct crossovers are available on the rig floor to enable stab-in valve to be used for well control.

· Well test equipment to be tested as per Well Test Programme and Well Testing Company Procedures to satisfy requirements of Certifying Authority. All pressure testing to be carried out as per the Company pressure testing safety procedures. Test all remote shutdown systems ensure that responsible personnel are briefed on operation of these.

· Ensure well test area deluge systems (where fitted) have been tested. Check all remote control stations (where fitted).

· Rig up and test all rigside cooling systems for use during flaring of hydrocarbons. Ensure that hoses are spotted where additional cooling might be required.

· Check that subsea test tree and slick joint dimensions are correct for wellhead/BOP space-out. This may be confirmed using a “Dummy Run” (Ref. Well Test Programme).

· Meeting to be held with OIM, Senior Toolpusher, Operator’s Drilling Supervisor, Well Test Supervisor and all parties concerned with the testing to discuss, draft and implement any specific procedures required.

· In areas where there may be H2S at surface during flow periods, then ensure that equipment and contingency procedure are ready. Carry out training and drills to ensure proper response by emergency teams and non essential personnel mustering.

Rig and ships lauching at yard without dry dock :

There are few principal methods of conveying a new rig or vessel from a construction yard to the water, only two of which are called "launching". The most familiar, and most widely used is the end-on launch, in which the vessel slides, usually stern first, down an inclined slipway. As for triangular hull shape rig, it can go aft or forward into the water as shown. The side launch, whereby the vessel enters the water broadside, came into old conventional method use on inland waters and was more widely adopted in old days where yards do not have dry docking facility.. The third method is float-out, used for rigs or ships that are built in basins or dry docks and then floated by admitting water into the dock. 

A floating dry dock

Some yards adopt floating dry dock method and this involves investment cost to build such dock facility. A floating drydock is a type of pontoon for dry docking ships, possessing floodable buoyancy chambers and a "U"-shaped cross-section. The walls are used to give the drydock stability when the floor or deck is below the surface of the water. When valves are opened, the chambers fill with water, causing the drydock to float lower in the water. The deck becomes submerged and this allows a ship to be moved into position inside. When the water is pumped out of the chambers, the drydock rises and the ship is lifted out of the water on the rising deck, allowing work to proceed on the ship's hull.  A typical floating drydock involves multiple rectangular sections. These sections can be combined to handle ships of various lengths, and the sections themselves can come in different dimensions. Each section contains its own equipment for emptying the ballast and to provide the required services, and the addition of a bow section can facilitate the towing of the drydock once assembled. For smaller boats, one-piece floating drydocks can be constructed, potentially coming with their own bow and steering mechanism.

Rig Leg rackphase differential (RPD) monitoring  :

One of the current issues affecting jack- up drilling units, especially those with  the newer leg designs, is the effect of leg cord Rack Phasing, which causes damage to individual leg members, commonly referred to as Rack Phase Differential (RPD). This effect arises under 3 general situations:

Jacking up on uneven bottoms causes each leg cord on 1 or more legs to experience differing bearing loads .

During elevated operations, scour conditions under the spud can result in unbalanced leg cord loading ..

• Extracting the chock system and loading the rig back onto the jacking pinions can cause RPD as well in the event individual system torque cannot be determined or set properly.

RPD occurs most often on locations with a disturbed or uneven seabed, resulting in eccentric bearing support of the leg’s spud can and causing the can to move horizontally. RPD is most likely in situations with (1) pre-existing spud can holes, (2) sloping seabed, (3) uneven sea-bed, (4) uneven seabed due to scour, (5) leg splay, or (6) rapid penetration.

All jackup rig designs experience RPD, but only certain classes (primarily units with low cross-sectional leg members) experience RPD to the point of leg damage. It was understood that rig design such as the F&G L-780 can sustain up to 3 in. (76 mm) of RPD before leg member failure occurs. The Mod-V B class may sustain up to 4 to 5 inches of RPD. According to web report, the new JU-2000E is designed to sustain up to 8 in. of RPD (203 mm) before leg member failure.

Location evaluation prior to rig arrival on-site is the most critical factor for reducing RPD effects. A complete location evaluation can be performed by doing bottom surveys, geo hazard surveys and soil analysis. The second most critical stage for monitoring RPD occurs when the rig is set up on location. Early detection of RPD helps prevent the operation from continuing into damage-producing stresses.

Soil properties have a critical impact on the process. In typical locations with a hard seabed and minimal penetration, there is very limited potential for manipulating the seabed while elevated. When the seabed is hard, RPD is typically eliminated by reseating the spud can. If RPD is monitored before full bearing pressure is achieved, there can be limited ability to manipulate the seabed (referred to as “stomping” or “pre-forming”).

Operators have found that manipulation of the seabed in later stages of the setup process is more likely to successfully reduce RPD when softer, more pliable soils are present. For all soil types, the best opportunities for managing RPD are during the initial stages of setting up on location.

Basic techniques employed to counter RPD after it is observed includes reseating, changing chord loads by releasing brakes & independent chord jacking, intentionally imposing reverse RPD, and tilting the rig.

According to web article, the JU-2000E jacking system has the ability to monitor gear unit torque from the Jacking Console and set the torque individually for each gear unit. In addition, the jacking system includes a Rack Phase Display and Alarm System to monitor differential as it occurs. This enables the jacking operator to stop jacking operations to evaluate any effects of RPD and to institute appropriate mitigation procedures.

Typical RPD DISPLAY

The typical common RPD display may shows relative differences in displacement of the 3 chords for each leg. Displacement of each chord is measured by a Leg Height Detector fitted at each chord on top of the jacking structure. The detector consists of an idle pinion that meshes with the rack and rotates only during the vertical displacement of the chord . This pinion drives 2 pulse counters that deliver signals to the MCC, which processes these signals and display the RPD values on the central jacking console for each leg.

The RPD display does not automatically stop the jacking operations. However, it does deliver an audible warning if RPD exceeds . Values of chord relative displacement are displayed for the jacking operator, who then decides when and which correction is necessary.

The jacking system includes a central jacking console and 9 local consoles (1 for each chord). The local consoles interface with the Rack Chock System engagement. Length of the leg deployed below the hull is displayed on the same screen as the Pinion Load Monitoring System screen, located on the Jacking Central Console .

Courtesy of Monitor Systems Scotland Ltd

Rig safety induction :

Training, according to the requirements set out for work onboard MOU, MODU,etc by IMO, and to SOLAS requirements and recommendations, is carried out continuously and documented on the “First Visit (crew member)” and “Self-assessment (crew members)” check-lists. Training according to the requirements are also carried out continuously and documented additional to the Training Register for completed Onboard Safety Training.

Safety training and induction onboard is normally part of the Safety Officers' duties. If no SFO is employed the Second Officer is normally appointed Safety Officer. Recognized qualifications shall be utilized when appropriate.

All crew members are required to complete a check-list to document that they have received proper safety induction on their first arrival as well as have been given time and opportunity for familiarization onboard.

Detailed information is contained in rig or vessel controlled documentation such as

• Safety Handbook

• Safety Manual

• Safety Plan

• Emergency Plan

• Emergency Response Manual

• Rig Operations Manual

All employees and personnel coming onboard for the first time are required to attend a Safety Induction Meeting, which may include the requirement to view a safety video. This meeting is normally conducted by the Safety Officer, but may on some locations be conducted by a specific person appointed for this purpose by the client. Such arrangement however does not relieve the Master / OIM from his responsibility to ensure every new arrival receives appropriate safety induction and other relevant information.  All drills and musters onboard to be in accordance with legislation requirements, international conventions and industry as well as Company standards.

The Master/OIM is responsible for drills and musters being carried out as stipulated in Company standards and to the requirements of the Flag state authority.

The Master/OIM is also responsible for the documentation of drills and musters, as well as to ensure debriefing and evaluation of procedures and results is part of the exercise.

Courtesy

Helicopter landing on rig  :

Many of these units will have helidecks where the design and construction of such helidecks (particularly on some vessels) tend to be less prescriptive than for fixed installations; the ship’s main functional purpose will sometimes inhibit helideck design.

• Floating Production and Storage Systems

• Mobile Offshore Drilling Units
• Accommodation Vessels (Floatels)
• Jack-ups on-the move and
• Specialist Vessels.

However, they are required to meet the standards set out in the relevant regulations, codes and guidance in order to undertake helicopter operations routinely.  Invariably a MODU (a semi-submersible, jack-up on the move, or drill ship) will initially be specified using the IMO MODU Code [Ref: 70] as the basis for design.

Operating Environments :

Semi-submersibles

The marine operating environment for a semi-submersible is similar to a fixed installation insofar as the helideck heading is generally fixed as a result of the anchoring arrangement or, if fitted, a dynamic positioning (DP) system.

However, it differs from a fixed installation in that the helideck has a dynamic movement in roll and pitch axes, heave, surge and sway due to the vessels dynamic characteristics.

In addition to wind speed and direction, helideck movement (velocity and accelerations as well as heave amplitude) induced by the floating structure should be fully taken into account during helideck and system design and helicopter operations.  The helideck is typically located at one corner of the main deck (forward or aft) directly above one of the buoyancy columns and adjacent to the bridge / accommodation. In this location, the windlasses and winches for controlling the anchoring system will be directly below the helideck.

It is therefore important to ensure there is sufficient cantilever of the helideck structure over the column and windlasses to avoid infringing the 5:1 falling gradient below the helideck surface. It is also essential to provide sufficient air gap below the helideck structure and above the winches and housings to avoid unfavourable aerodynamic effects over the helideck.

Jack-ups

The marine operating environment for a jack-up on station is the same as a fixed installation. However when under tow, the helideck conditions are similar to a vessel under way.

Helidecks on jack-ups, when on location, do not need special consideration for vessel movements because they are in effect fixed structures. However, when under tow they are effectively a vessel, and helicopters landing on the helideck (routinely or in an emergency) will require the same design considerations and operational aids as a mobile unit. Normally it is very seldom to land a helicopter during rig tow as we understood from rig operators.

In particular when under tow, the legs will be elevated to their maximum height and, as a result, they will be the dominant obstructions. This should be taken fully into account during helideck design.

Vessels

The marine operating environment for a drilling vessel ‘on station’ is similar to a semi-submersible insofar as the helideck heading is generally fixed as a result of the anchoring arrangement or, if fitted, the dynamic positioning (DP) system.  Similarly, the helideck has a dynamic movement in roll and pitch axes, heave, surge and sway due to the vessels dynamic characteristics.