Rolls-Royce has just announced that it has managed to deliver its UUC underwater mountable thruster Number 1000. It happens to be the 3rd out of a total of 6 units that Seadrill’s brand new mobile drilling vessel is to be equipped with, as it is currently under construction at Korea-based Samsung Heavy Industries.
Rolls-Royce’s UUC thruster series has established itself as the top dog on the mobile drillship propulsion market, having a market share of over 70%. According to statistic data currently there are over a hundred semi-submersible drilling rigs and mobile drill vessels operating in every single one of the world’s major deepwater oil and gas fields.
“We admit that this achievement has made us quite proud. Its significance, however, is that it displays the trust placed in us by our customers for delivering them top class propulsion equipment. We have always put all of our efforts towards developing highly innovative and sufficient power and propulsion solutions in order to support the needs of our clients, and we plan for it to stay that way,” commented John Knudsen, Rolls-Royce, Commercial Marine President.
UUC thrusters are employed for the purposes of moving a mobile drilling unit from a particular location to another, and more specifically for keeping the unit stationary during drilling operations while it is placed in a continuous dynamic positioning mode, which is often done at an extreme water depth level.
One of the more important UUC features, given the fact that the larger portion of rigs operate in remote locations, is that it is able to be removed and subsequently installed underwater without having to drydock the vessel.
Source: Rolls-Royce