After getting rid of one arrest order and submitting a providing the court with a bank guarantee in another case against the Blackford Dolphin semisub, Dolphin Drilling has finally been able to get things rolling and set the rig on its way to India.
This long and very complicated case began in April when Dolphin terminated a contract for the rig with Nigeria’s General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL) over missed payments to the offshore driller.
The Nigerian company then took the Norwegian firm to court in an attempt to force Dolphin Drilling to complete the work under a terminated drilling contract for the rig. Although that has not happened yet, the company was able to convince local courts to place an interim injunction on the rig until arbitration regarding the contract between the two was concluded.
Then another issue appeared as the offshore driller received service of Nigerian court proceedings in an action brought by Technova Africa International in late May. The Pan African energy and infrastructure conglomerate obtained an ex parte order of arrest against the Blackford Dolphin.
In mid-June, Dolphin was able to lift the arrest order previously obtained by Technova. At the time, the company added that the claims made by Technova were still being contested.
On Monday, the Norwegian rig owner said that it submitted a bank guarantee of $20m which enabled the firm to remove the 1974-built rig from Nigerian waters. The semisub is now on its way to India to start its $154m contract with Oil India Limited. The contract was scheduled to start in
Dolphin Drilling added that it was in the process of negotiating a debt facility underwritten by a DNB Bank subsidiary to bridge the funding for the security required.
