Drill Ship Construction Boom in Brazil
Claudio Paschoa
September 27, 2010
The sheer amount of orders already placed and expected for drill ships and rigs is pushing the new Brazilian shipbuilding industry into raising its game in order to compete for driller orders.Petrobras alone is responsible for ordering a total of 28 drill ships of which 9 have already gone through the tendering process and will soon start being built. Transocean is building 9 drill ships at international shipyards, including the Petrobras 10,000 drillship at the Samsung shipyard in South Korea, the ship being already pegged for a 10 year service contract with Petrobras. Noble has 3 drill ships and 2 drill rigs slated to start five to six year contracts with Petrobras.