Operators dropping or slimming drilling programmes have left drilling contractors with few options but to stack rigs at a pace reminiscent of the bust cycle of the late 1980s to early 1990s.
“But newer rig designs being stacked are much more complicated than they were 30 years ago,” says Dave Forsyth, chief surveyor offshore at classification society ABS. “High-spec drillships are very complicated pieces of equipment.
