As Keppel Corp unwinds its offshore and marine business with a definitive agreement on a merger of Keppel O&M with rival Sembcorp Marine expected by the end of the month, unsold legacy rigs, largely from canceled contracts have been placed in a separate Asset Co. where Keppel is either trying to sell or charter the unwanted rigs.
These include Keppel O&M’s foray into the drillship market with the CAN DO – a name that was supposed to embody the spirit of the Singapore rig builder. The question of the status of the CAN DO drillship came up in the Q+A at Keppel Corp’s first-quarter briefing on Thursday. Listing out four recently terminated B Class jack-up rigs, contracts with Borr Drilling and Grupo R, Chris Ong, CEO of Keppel O&M said: “There is the CAN DO drillship too, and of course, the Awilco rigs that were also terminated.”
As a little refresher, the CAN DO drillship project dates back to 2013. While at the time Keppel held a world-leading position in the jack-up rig market, the more expensive drillship sector was dominated by Korean yards. At the time both Singapore and Korean yards were riding a huge boom in the offshore marine market.
In December 2013 Seatrade Maritime News wrote about Keppel’s decision to build the CAN DO speculatively noting that the Singapore yard group had been marketing a drillship design for a couple of years, launching the specific CAN DO design earlier in 2013.
Then Chief Operating Officer and CEO-Designate of Keppel O&M, Chow Yew Yuen, commented: “Since the launch of our design earlier this year, we have received very encouraging responses from the market, and we have decided to start constructing the first drillship to this design. We believe the drillship meets the high functionality, safety, and cost-effective requirements of the industry.”
The drillship build was reported completed in 2016, by which time the offshore marine market had long since undergone a spectacular crash. Meanwhile, flagged with Liberia, the ill-timed and unloved CAN DO drillship is it seems still looking for a customer.
Source: Seatrade Maritime News
