Maersk Interceptor Named in Norway

In a ceremony held at GMC Marine Partners yard in Mekjarvik in Norway, Mrs. Anita Utseth, Senior Vice President in Det norske oljeselskab ASA (Det norske) had the honour of naming the ultra harsh environment jack-up rig Maersk Interceptor.

Maersk Interceptor is the second in a series of four ultra harsh environment jack-up rigs to enter Maersk Drilling’s fleet. The four jack-up rigs represent a total investment of USD 2.6bn.

Maersk Interceptor will commence a five year firm contract with Det norske for drilling the Ivar Aasen field in the Norwegian North Sea in December 2014. The contract includes two one-year options. The estimated contract value for the firm contract is USD 700 million.

“With the naming of the Maersk Interceptor, we are taking the next step in Maersk Drilling’s Norwegian history. Maersk Drilling entered Norway in 1990, because we saw a window of opportunity to provide competitive offers to oil companies with our jack-up technology. With the contract for Maersk Interceptor, we look forward to work closely together with Det norske and continue to grow and leverage our market leading position in Norway,” says Claus V. Hemmingsen, CEO of Maersk Drilling and member of the Executive Board of the Maersk Group.

The first two jack-up rigs, the Maersk Intrepid and the Maersk Interceptor, have been delivered from the Keppel (KPELF) FELS shipyard. The third will be delivered from Keppel FELS in 2015, and the fourth will be delivered from the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea in 2016. All four have secured long term contracts with prime customers.