WORLD’S BIGGEST DRILLING RIGS

OFFSHORE: The Port of Esbjerg services some of the world’s largest and most advanced drilling rigs for Maersk Contractors. The company, which leases drilling rigs to the world’s largest oil companies has embarked on a major expansion programme

One of the main users of the Port of Esbjerg is Maersk Contractors, a part of the giant A.P.Moller – Maersk group, and one of the world’s seven largest operators of oil and gas rigs. The company operates worldwide with a fleet of 23 drilling rigs and 3 floating production units. Maersk Contractors has two of the world’s largest and most advanced drilling rigs – Mærsk Inspirer and Mærsk Innovator.

In response to the oil industry’s rapid growth in recent years, Maersk Contractors has initiated the company’s largest ever expansion programme. Over the next three years, its fleet will be expanded with three new deep water semisubmers-ibles, six high efficiency jack-up rigs and a new FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading).

When Maersk Contractors put its first drilling rig – Mærsk Explorer – into service in 1975, it was the largest of its kind in the world. The rig was used by Dansk Undergrunds Consortium (DUC) in the North Sea, and remained contracted to DUC almost without a break until it was sold in 1998. Mærsk Innovator and Mærsk Inspirer are so large and powerful that they can lift their hull to operational height with Mærsk Explorer standing on the deck. The two giant rigs each have three 250 metre-long legs which enable the rigs to work to a depth of 150 metres in the world’s roughest waters such as the North Sea.

http://www.maersk-contractors.com