World’s biggest

DNV GL has recently welcomed the world’s largest semisubmersible drilling rig into class. Ocean GreatWhite is 123 metreslong and 78 metres wide and was delivered at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea. Owned by the Houston-based drilling contractor Diamond Offshore, the rig will be chartered to oil major BP and will operate in the Great Australian Bight.

“The Ocean GreatWhite is a unique rig purposely built for drilling in harsh environments,” said Karl Sellers, SVP Technical Services at Diamond Offshore. “HHI and DNV GL were integral in helping us get this rig to market as we prepare for the drilling project in Australia with BP.”

“We have a strong relationship with both DNV GL and Diamond Offshore – and it is thanks to this good co-operation that the project went so well. We are proud to deliver the first drilling ship of this size and look forward to many more projects on this scale,” Youngseuk Han, Senior Executive Vice President at HHI said. “We will keep moving the boundaries of technology by completing following large-scale and innovative projects.”

“Ocean GreatWhite is capable of operating in depths of up to 3000 metres and can drill down to a depth of 10,670 metres. It represents the state-of-the-art in the semi-submersible sector and we are very pleased to have been asked to contribute our expertise to this project,” says Paal Johansen, Vice President and Regional Director, Americas at DNV GL.