EuropeOffshore

Rosneft terminates drillship contract with North Atlantic Drilling

Oslo: North Atlantic Drilling, the majority owned subsidiary of John Fredriksen-controlled Seadrill, has said that Rosneft has terminated a contract to employ drillship West Navigator, which was scheduled to commence a five-year deployment in Russian waters.

The company had recently flagged to shareholders possible risks with the deal, which was part of a group of six contracts signed with Rosneft in July 2014 worth a total of $4.25bn. Five year contracts were signed for the West Navigator, the West Rigel, the West Alpha, two newbuild CJ-54 class rigs, and a 2.5 year contract for a Gusto class jackup rig.

North Atlantic Drilling said the cancellation would reduce its contract backlog by $1bn, although there was no indication whether Rosneft is looking at further cancellations. The Seadrill subsidiary said it will be marketing West Navigator for alternative employment, however did not rule out further negotiations with Rosneft to utilise the vessel.

North Atlantic Drilling has a fleet made up of five semi-submersibles, a drillship, and three jackup rigs.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrade’s Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.
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