The drillship will be built on a fixed-price basis in two phases. Following construction of the hull and installation of the propulsion system by STX at their new facility in Dalian, China, the to-be-named drillship will sail under its own power to the Netherlands where Huisman will complete the installation and commissioning of the topside equipment.
The delivered cost of the drillship, excluding capitalized interest, is estimated to be $585 million, with delivery scheduled for the second half of 2011.
Additionally, Noble has secured priced options for three additional Globetrotter drillships exercisable by Noble over the next 90, 120 and 180 days, respectively, from the date of contract execution.
David Williams, chairman, president and CEO of Noble, said: We are excited to announce the continuation of our new build program with the addition of this new ultra-deepwater Globetrotter class drillship. The Globetrotter is an innovative design capable of working in up to 10,000 feet of water in benign and hostile environments around the world.
