West Orion (Seadrill 13) is the third drilling rig Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd (JSPL) has delivered to Seadrill with Aker Solutions drilling equipment. The rig is now operating offshore Brazil and is a sixth generation semi submersible designed for ultra deepwater operations (10 000 feet).
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West Orion facts
Owner: Seadrill
Contractor: Petropras
Shipyard: Jurong Shipyard
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“The great cooperation between the Aker Solutions team, including all sub contractors, Seadrill’s team and the Jurong Shipyard’s project team can best be described as one big team effort with a common goal. Together we have solved issues continuously. As a result we delivered the right quality on time!"
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Aker Solutions was awarded the contract during the second quarter of 2007. West Orion was delivered on 20 April 2010, 10 days ahead of contractual delivery with zero punches.
Project manager in Aker Solutions, Tor Ivar Jensaas said: “The great cooperation between the Aker Solutions team, including all sub contractors, Seadrill’s team and the Jurong Shipyard’s project team can best be described as one big team effort with a common goal. Together we have solved issues continuously. As a result we delivered the right quality on time!"
The West Orion project comprises a complete drilling package including mud treatment, blowout preventer and drilling risers (7500ft). The rig contains dual vertical pipe handling (VPH) systems which enables offline stand-building. The extra VPH system adds redundancy since both systems can be run in the well centre. It also includes offline casing building by use of BOP trolley and crane, not to mention a two engine 1000 tonnes derrick drilling machine (DDM). The contract also included engineering follow-up, project management, installation supervision and commissioning.
As of July 2010 the West Orion was accepted by Petrobras. The acceptance test took approximately 12 days, which is exceptionally fast.
West Orion is now in operation as part of a six year contract with Petrobras. West Orion follows after the delivery of sister rigs West Sirius and West Taurus in 2008 and will be succeeded by West Capricorn. The first sister rig West Sirius, delivered in March 2008, is currently serving a charter with BP in the Gulf of Mexico, while the second sister unit West Taurus, delivered one week ahead of schedule in November 2008, is operating offshore Brazil under a six-year charter with Petrobras. The last rig in the series, West Capricorn, is under construction at JSPL in Singapore and scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2011.
West Orion is a state-of-the-art rig engineered for stability and versatility with operational displacement of 43 400 metric tons at 17 metres draft and 46 750 metric tons at 20 metres draft. It also features high load capacity and an efficient drill floor layout with improved safety and working environment features.
Mr Alf C Thorkildsen, CEO and President of Seadrill Management said: “We are pleased to report the third consecutive on-time and on-budget delivery of an advanced dynamic positioning semi-submersible drilling rig to Seadrill from Jurong Shipyard. The delivery of West Orion by Jurong Shipyard on budget, 10 days ahead of schedule and without punches, sets a new industry standard. The Seadrill strategy of ordering newbuild units with highly reputable yards like Jurong Shipyard has paid off and we would like to thank the Jurong team for their hard work and efforts in achieving this delivery record. The cooperation between Seadrill and Jurong Shipyard is clearly a winning formula.”