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while describing the new 208m-long, “We worked closely with Castor into the design, helping to increase deck

Drilling 40m-wide, design at the Offshore Drilling Solutions to integrate an innova- space as well as reduce hydrodynamic

Mediterranean Conference (OMC) in tive rig into the ship to have the total resistance. In tow tank testing, the

Ravenna earlier this year. bene? ts – for the equipment but in par- company compared the three con? gura-

Scherl said that the vessel will deliver ticular for the ef? cient operations of the tions, no moonpool, one traditional big a cost saving of about 10% of the overall ship,” Scherl said. moonpool and with two smaller moon- well costs per well, shared between the The 2000-tonne capacity setback pools. Scherl said this con? rmed that drilling contractor and the operator. (where stands of drill pipe or tubing are the resistance with two smaller moon-

Fincantieri set out with a number of set back and racked) is embedded in the pools was less than that with one bigger, goals for Proxima: an ability to drill in up ship’s hull on the opposite side of the traditional con? guration moonpool. to 12,000ft water depth and to 50,000ft of vessel to the towers. The variable load is The ? rm also found that this reduction total drilling depth, transit at more than then compensated using a pair of water in residual resistance is linked to the 14 knots, accommodate up to 250 people, ballast tanks dedicated to heeling service. oscillations of the water inside the moon carry two 20,000 psi BOPs and have a vari- The towers may also be telescopic, pools, developed through sloshing or able deck load up to 32,000-tonne. Scherl which means they can be lowered for piston mode water oscillations. said the vessel will “Where for the rect- be safer, due to the angular moonpool (L/B cylindrically-shaped, > 2) the natural sloshing enclosed, drill tow- mode starts at around ers, situated over two Fn = 0.1 and increases well centers, spread with speed, while for 26m apart. Compared the squared or circular to few hundred bolts moonpool (L/B = 1) in the new tower only the natural piston concept, developed mode is present and by Norway-based well developed around

Fincantieri subsid- Fn = 0.1 and decreases iary Caster Drilling to zero at around Fn =

Solutions, a stan- 0.14,” Fincantieri said. dard, lattice design The water oscillations tower has some more inside the rounded or than 5000 bolts, squared moonpools is of

Fincantieri’s Proxima drillship design.

Scherl said. the piston mode, by far

The top drive, lower in absolute value

The towers, with hydraulically pow- rated at 1500-tonne and suspended safer maintenance using the onboard respect to the sloshing mode typical of ered low-speed winches, controlled by from six pre-cut wires, which connect cranes and also should they need to be rectangular shapes lowering the residual digital hydraulic valves, are provided directly to a hydraulic winch, has been lowered to go under a bridge. For this resistance in transit and allowing to with a passive and active motion com- con? gured so that it doesn’t have to be operation they will employ a rack and reach the 14 knots of transit speed with pensation system also integrated into the connected to a traveling block or pulley pinion system. the power delivered by the three aft structure of the vessel. Other innovations system, cutting the need for cut and slip The drill ? oor itself is open and thrusters.

have also been included in the design, operations, Scherl said. An auxiliary top extended, running continuously from aft, The vessel also has an automated, fully including the spaces and equipment to drive is also included, rated at 1150- where stands for the drill pipe are stored, redundant riser handling system, Scherl carry on board in future two, 20,000 psi tonne. The winch, installed at the bottom to the accommodation deckhouse, allow- said, so risers are always held in clamps blowout preventers (BOP) and the option of the tower, is driven by hydraulic ing easy access for dedicated onboard and never hanging, during transferal from to make the vessel LNG-fueled. motors and can be used for tripping service cranes. the riser hold to the catwalk and vice “We had three main drivers in our as well as active heave compensation. To accommodate the 26m dis- versa, removing the risk of damage to the idea: the performance, to drill wherever However, the cylinders underneath the tance between the two drill centers, risers. This solution also helps to reduce possible; safety; and added value for our winch also provide passive and active Fincantieri opted to incorporate two cir- the amount of space needed inside the clients,” said Gianni Scherl, Fincantieri, heave compensation. cular-shaped smaller sized moonpools riser hold when they are out? tted with standard overhead cranes.

With its extended drill ? oor design,

In its Deepwater and Ultra-deepwater This company would build the

CUSS with two elevators, fore and aft, which

II

Market Report to 2018, In? eld puts the drillship, capable of drilling in 600ft connect the service corridor under the capital spending growth rate in deep- water depths. main deck with the drill ? oor deck, water at about 8% in 2014-2018. The CUSS line of drillships would

Fincantieri also said that use of forklifts

The ? rst drillship design was the later be renamed Glomar, short for could be extended, because it would , designed through the CUSS Global Marine. The company would

CUSS I enable continuous circulation of the consortium (Continental Oil Co., Union be party to several mergers including forklift in all operative areas, reducing

Oil Co., Shell Oil Co. and Superior Oil one with Sante Fe in 2001, adopting the use the onboard cranes. Proxima will

Co.). It was managed by Robert F. Bauer, the name Global Sante Fe. In 2007, the also have an extended helipad so that, who went on to become the ? rst presi- company merged with Transocean, if required, two helicopters could be dent of Global Marine Exploration Co. maintaining the Transocean name. • landed. oedigital.com June 2015 | OE 37 036_OE0615_D&C_Fincantieri_em1.indd 37 6/1/15 11:00 AM