Keppel FELS Delivers 7th KFELS SSDT to Seadrill Ahead of Schedule

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has delivered its seventh KFELS semisubmersible drilling tender (SSDT), West Jaya, to Seadrill Limited (Seadrill). Completed two weeks ahead of schedule, the vessel was delivered with a perfect safety record and within budget.

West Jaya is built to Keppel's proven KFELS SSDT 3600E design which was conferred the ASEAN outstanding engineering achievement award in December 2009 for its eco-friendly features and sustainable operations.

Seadrill are in negotiation with BP Trinidad & Tobago LLC for West Jaya to work in the Immortelle field for two years.

The vessel was named at Keppel FELS by Lady Sponsor Mrs Marie Chew, spouse of Mr Marcus Chew, Director of Business Development at Seadrill.

Mr Alf Ragnar Løvdal, Senior Vice President of Seadrill Asia Pacific, said, "The six previous tender rigs we built here have established themselves firmly in the market with a solid track record. In fact, we are seeing strong interest from oil companies for the tender rig concept with a view towards new and higher capacity units.

"The success of the KFELS SSDT design is a result of the winning partnership we have built with Keppel FELS. With West Jaya, they have again delivered an exceptional product that will provide value-added solutions for our customers. "

West Jaya has enhanced mooring capabilities and features a crane capacity of 250 tonnes, four mud pumps and accommodation for 160 people.

Mr Wong Kok Seng, Managing Director of Keppel FELS, said, "The fact that we are delivering the seventh consecutive KFELS SSDT to Seadrill speaks of the success of this design. Through it, Seadrill is today the world leader in the drilling tender market. Keppel is proud to be a partner as the foremost designer and builder of SSDTs and other offshore mobile rigs.

"As a partner for solutions, we are always keen to team up with trend-setting customers to develop solutions for the offshore oil and gas industry. We look forward to continue supporting Seadrill in their fleet expansion and further strengthen their capabilities in the tender assist market."

The first of Seadrill's KFELS SSDT fleet, West Pelaut, was designed and built by Keppel FELS in 1994, and was conferred the highly coveted Shell Platform Rig of the Year award in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

Developed by Keppel's Deepwater Technology Group, the KFELS SSDT is an outstanding application of engineering and technological advancement, contributing significantly to environmental protection, as well as the safety of operators involved in offshore platform development drilling.

Designed to operate in deep waters of up to 5,000 ft, the purpose-built KFELS SSDT has revolutionalised the way in which drilling tenders operate, allowing them to be deployed next to deepwater floating platforms for the first time.

The KFELS SSDT has proven its resilience and suitability to operate in a variety of challenging environments worldwide. In addition to Southeast Asia, this unique drilling tender has also been deployed by Seadrill further and deeper in the waters of West Africa.

With this latest delivery, Keppel FELS has successfully completed six KFELS B Class jackup rigs and seven KFELS SSDTs for Seadrill. This is in addition to the first Jackup, West Epsilon, built for Seadrill in 1993.

Keppel AmFELS in the US has previously built five jackups for a Seadrill subsidiary, Scorpion Offshore, while at Keppel Shipyard, three Floating Storage and Regasification Units were delivered to Golar LNG, a subsidiary of Seadrill.