Stena Drilling to retire semi-submersible rig

UK offshore driller Stena Drilling has decided to remove the Stena Clyde semi-submersible drilling rig from active service and retire the rig from its fleet. 

The driller said on Monday that the rig had been warm stacked in Australia for the past three years and is presently in Singapore. The Stena Clyde will now be put up for sale.

Stena noted that, although there has been some recent interest in operating the rig in the region, these opportunities have not materialized to the extent necessary to continue supporting the rig.

To remind, Stena last February signed a contract with Timor Sea Oil & Gas Australia for the Stena Clyde drilling rig for a campaign that was supposed to start around April or May this year.

Since 1996, when the rig entered the Stena Drilling fleet, it has delivered high performance operations, starting in the North Sea before making its way to Asia and Australia.

The Stena Clyde is a semi-submersible, twin pontoon, column stabilized drilling unit of an Aker H3 design built in 1976 and modified in 1985.

The rig has been modified with an additional six stability columns to provide adequate operating deck load for operations in 1,640ft water depths. A Cameron TL 18¾”15,000 WP H2S Service BOP is fitted. The Stena Clyde has an SBOP capability for a water depth of 5,000 ft.