Noble Globetrotter I & II

Huisman is responsible for the design and construction of the drilling equipment but also for the concept design of the vessel. Our concept design allows a highly optimized integration of drilling equipment and vessel from the start of the design process, resulting in a more compact drilling vessel and lower building and operational costs.

The selection of our compact box type drilling tower instead of a conventional derrick allows for a significantly smaller sized vessel compared to other deepwater drill ships of similar capacity. The drilling capabilities however match the new generation large drill ships with a max water depth capability of 12,000ft, 2400 kips static hook load capacity at both the fore and aft side of the mast and 43,000ft pipe storage capacity. In addition, it offers improved operational efficiency as a result of the different equipment layout.

Besides the derrick, also the vessel design is unconventional. The engine room is placed forward, underneath the accommodation, freeing the entire aft ship for drilling equipment or tubular storage. All risers and most of the drilling tubulars are stored below deck, aft of the drilling mast. The holds are covered by hatches. This leaves a large "free" deck area of 4,200m² (45,000ft²) which can be used for non permanent equipment. The various deck load is a generous 20,000t.

The drill floor is located only 5m above main deck This reduces sideways motions at the drill floor and considerably lowers the centre of gravity of the drilling equipment. This is made possible by lowering the BOP through a large hatch aft of the drill mast before skidding it to the well centre, forward of the mast. The top section of the mast can be removed to allow passage through the Panama and Suez Canals as well as below the Bosporus bridge.

Huisman supplied the drilling mast with active heave compensated draw works inside, all pipe racking and pipe handling gear, riser handling cranes and the riser tensioning system. We also supplied the driller's cabin and we are responsible for all system integration including 3^rd party equipment. Due to the combination of simple robust designs and the incorporation of redundancy at multiple levels, the system will maximize safety for the crew and minimize equipment downtime.

The equipment will is constructed, installed and commissioned at our Dutch facility. The vessel is built by Korean shipyard STX in a newly built location in Dalian, China.