The Noble Jim Day semisubmersible (left) arrived at Harbor Island in Port Aransas, Texas, on 29 July to be cold stacked. The drilling rig is a Trosvik Bingo 9000 design built in 1999 and upgraded in 2010 with a rated water depth of 12,000 ft and a rated drilling depth of 37,000 ft.
The Seadrill’s West Sirius drilling rig (right) was mothballed at Harbor Island late last year. Built in 2008, the ultradeepwater rig is a Freide & Goldman ExD Millennium design rated for 10,000-ft water depth and 37,500-ft drilling depth. The semisub drilling completed its de-manning and thruster removal in preparation for cold stacking during the third quarter last year. Seadrill expected the annual cost to cold stack the rig to be approximately USD 3.5 million.
Both rigs operated in the US Gulf of Mexico. The last contract with Noble Jim Day was with Shell before it was set for cold stacking. BP terminated its contract for West Sirius last March.