Yantai loads out Awilco semisub hull

China’s Yantai Raffles Shipyard has successfully loaded out the hull for the first of three semi-submersible drilling rigs being built for Norway’s Awilco Offshore at its Yantai shipyard in Shandong province, but the unit's delivery date remains uncertain.

Over recent months doubts have been cast on whether the delayed unit will be ready for delivery in October as per the revised schedule.

When contacted by Upstreamonline today, a Yantai Raffles spokeswoman said the yard is doing everything possible to meet Awilco's requirements and both parties are still in discussions over a delivery date.

The Wilpioneer rig, built to GM4000 design, is fully equipped for year round operation in harsh environments, with a dynamic positioning system, accommodation unit and ballasting system designed to support duties such as intervention and drilling in water depths up to 2500 feet.

The lower hull of the Wilpioneer was loaded out onto a floating barge by means of a combination of the Gripper Jack system with the shipyard’s existing Roller Skidding Method. The hull was subsequently floated off in the dredging area and tugged into dry dock on 29 September.

This combination can load structures of up to 40,000 tonnes, which is about three times the weight that other yards can load out using a Gripper Jack system of similar size, Yantai’s chief executive Cho Yong Jin said in a statement.

“Wilpioneer is the first semi-submersible being built in our shipyard and our adoption of the system has enabled us to execute the load-out with greater efficiency, lower cost and improved safety,” he added.