Maersk’s giant XLE jack-up reaches Norway

The Maersk Invincible, one of the world’s largest jack-up drilling rigs, has reached Norway after a long journey from South Korea, where it was built.

The piece of information on the rig’s arrival to Norway was shared by its owner Maersk Drilling through social media on Wednesday.

“Maersk Invincible has finally arrived in Stavanger, Norway and is soon ready to commence operations for customer Aker BP in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea,” the driller said.

The Maersk Invincible is the fourth and final XL Enhanced ultra harsh environment jack-up rig and it was delivered from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) in South Korea in January 2017.

The rig will start a five-year firm contract with Aker BP for plug and abandonment work on the Valhall field in the Norwegian North Sea.

Maersk Invincible has finally arrived in Stavanger, Norway and is soon ready to commence operations. Thanks to André Otterå for sharing. pic.twitter.com/QnmoONHPcs

— Maersk Drilling (@maerskdrilling) March 24, 2017

In its February fleet status report, Maersk said that the contract would begin in April 2017 and could last as long as ten years since Aker BP has five one-year extension options as well. The estimated contract value for the firm contract is $812 million, including mobilization from South Korea to Norway, but excluding cost escalation.

As far as the XLE jack-up rigs go, they represent a total investment of $2.6 billion. The Maersk Invincible is the only XLE delivered by DSME while the first three were delivered from the Keppel FELS shipyard.

According to Maersk Drilling, with a leg length of 206.8 m (678 ft) they are the world’s largest jack-up rigs and are designed for year-round operation in the North Sea, in water depths up to 150 m (492 ft).