Frigstad remains optimistic on the market outlook for the deep-water drilling segment, and work on the second D90 semisub project has been ongoing “for quite some time now”, Frigstad chief executive Simen Eriksen said.

The company has repeatedly sought quotes for a deep-water drilling rig to be built to its proprietary design, but the progress on its newbuild plan is understood to have been held back by a lack of project financing.

However,