Maersk Drilling has signed a contract worth around $39 million with Royal Dutch Shell’s subsidiary BG International for its semi-submersible rig Mærsk Developer to be deployed for a two-well development project offshore Trinidad and Tobago.

The Danish drilling rig operator said that the estimated duration of the contract is 171 days, with work likely to begin in the first quarter of 2020. The drilling contract comes with five additional one-well options.

Designed as a DSS-21 column-stabilized dynamically positioned semi-submersible rig, the Mærsk Developerable can operate in water depths up to 10,000ft, as per Maersk Drilling. Currently, the semi-submersible rig is operating in Mexican waters.

Morten Kelstrup – COO of Maersk Drilling said: “We are very pleased to be headed back to Trinidad to build on the successful work Mærsk Developer previously performed for Shell there.”

Maersk Drilling wins contract from Shell for Mærsk Developer in Trinidad & Tobago. Photo courtesy of Maersk Drilling.

Earlier this month, Maersk Drilling bagged a $16.5 million contract for the drilling of an exploration well on PL617 in the Southern North Seawell using its Maersk Interceptor ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig. The contract was awarded by MOL Norge, the operator of PL617, where it is partnered by Wintershall Dea and OMV Norge.

Expected to begin in August 2020, the contract has an estimated duration of 60 days.

Last month, the Danish drilling rig operator won a $33 million contract to deploy the Maersk Viking, a seventh-generation drillship, for South Korea-based POSCO International to undertake a three-well drilling program offshore Myanmar.

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