Two rigs getting new names following manager change

Offshore drilling contractor Northern Ocean has decided to rename its two rigs following a recent decision to swap Seadrill with Odfjell Drilling as their manager.

Northern Ocean informed on Thursday that the names of its rigs – West Mira and West Bollsta – would be changed to Deepsea Mira and Deepsea Bollsta. Both semi-submersible rigs are based on the Moss Maritime CS60 design with a capacity of drilling in water depth of up to 10,000 feet.

The name change follows Northern Ocean’s recent entry into operational and marketing agreements with Odfjell Drilling. However, commercial chartering decisions will remain with the company. It is worth reminding that Northern Ocean is a spin-off company of Northern Drilling, which transferred the two semi-sub rigs to Northern Ocean.

According to the rig owner, the name change reflects the close relationship with its new partner and a reintroduction of the fleet under new management.

Scott McReaken, CEO of Northern Ocean, said: “We are very pleased to begin this next chapter with a premier driller like Odfjell. We look forward to working closely with Odfjell and the E&P companies as we build a new safe performance track record on the Northern Ocean fleet.”

Northern Ocean’s 6th gen. rig West Mira, built in 2018, is currently warm stacked at Hanøytangen outside Bergen, Norway where it remains under Odfjell’s management. Last year, the rig lost a contract with Wintershall Dea following an incident with a x-mas tree, which sunk to the seafloor during lifting operations. As a result, the contract was terminated and West Mira was replaced with a Saipem-owned rig.

The 2019-built West Bollsta rig is contracted to Lundin through the first quarter of 2022. As the current manager for the rig, Seadrill will complete operations under the current drilling contract and then transfer rig management to Odfjell in direct continuation of its activities.

Northern Ocean said in February 2022 that, once the West Bollsta concludes its work with Lundin – which is expected soon – Odfjell would take over management and bring the rig alongside in Bergen to realize efficiencies in the idle periods until reactivation occurs.