Maersk Drilling will decommission an elderly rig built in 1984 and recycle it at China’s Zhoushan Changhong International Ship Recycling.
The jack-up rig, Maersk Endurer, is Maersk Drilling’s oldest rig in the fleet. The Maersk Endurer will be transported to the Chinese recycling yard in mid-July, and it will take around 15 weeks to recycle the rig.
“Given the current market situation and the oversupply of drilling rigs in the offshore market, there is a strong need to retire older rigs. Therefore, Maersk Drilling has decided to decommission its oldest rig in the fleet, Maersk Endurer,” said Morten Pilnov, head of global sales in Maersk Drilling.
“It is Maersk Drilling’s ambition to decommission Maersk Endurer in a safe and responsible way with minimal environmental impact. Therefore, Maersk Drilling has chosen Zhoushan Changhong International Ship Recycling to recycle Maersk Endurer. Maersk Drilling has furthermore engaged Sea2Cradle to carry out inspections and supervise the entire process,” Pilnov explained.
He added that the Chinese recycling yard’s facilities comply with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships and the European Union Ship Recycling Regulation.
Maersk Drilling’s modern fleet counts 22 drilling rigs. The company has one ultra harsh environment jack-up rig under construction.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.