International drilling contractor Northern Ocean has announced that its Deepsea Mira high-specification semi-submersible drilling rig has successfully arrived in Namibia’s Block 2913B and has kickstarted drilling operations for French energy major TotalEnergies under a contract inked in December 2022.
As per the terms of the contract, the rig will be utilized over a period of 300 days with engineering services firm Odfjell Drilling – which was also responsible for the preparation and transit of the rig – managing operations throughout the duration of the contract.
TotalEnergies’ contract for the use of the Deepsea Mira rig includes two unexercised options to extend the contract by an additional 180 days which can be followed by another 90-day option, extending the contract into 2024.
Northern Ocean shared that a further option to extend by another six months is also available.
The rig departed Norway in April 2023 to start drilling for TotalEnergies in May.
However, delays due to the loading of equipment and maintenance resulted in a two-month postponement.
Northern Ocean stated that the rig’s design and engineering capabilities delivered by Hyundai Heavy in South Korea enables it to withstand harsh deepwater and weather environments.
