PPL bags Atwood jack-up rig order

Singapore: Sembcorp Marine's subsidiary PPL Shipyard has won a contract to build a jack-up rig with Atwood Oceanics Pacific Limited (AOPL). The jack-up rig, worth up to $182m, is the first of a series of three jack-up options that PPL Shipyard granted to Atwood Oceanics, parent company of AOPL. The jack-up rig is planned for delivery end-June 2013, and it will be built based on PPL Shipyard's proprietary design, the Pacific Class 400. Rob Saltiel, Atwood president and ceo, said: "We believe that by committing early in the build cycle, Atwood has procured these high-specification jack-ups at an attractive price." The new rig design is capable of operating in waters of 400 feet and drill depths of 30,000 feet, according to Sembcorp Marine. The rigs are expected to offer improved drilling efficiencies with offline pipe handling, simultaneous operations support and are equipped with increased accommodation capacity. [20/01/11]