Early delivery of "Alpha Star"

This continues Keppel FELS track record of delivering its rigs on time or ahead of schedule. It is the third early delivery this year, following the early delivery of the semisubmersible drilling tender, "West Jaya", to Seadrill and of the KFELS N Class rig, "Rowan Stavanger", for Rowan Companies.

The rig has been chartered by Petrobras for six years to support exploration and production activities offshore Brazil.

Jointly developed and owned by Keppel's Deepwater Technology Group and Marine Structure Consultants, the DSSTM 38 design is in the league of some of the world's most advanced drilling semisubmersibles.

DSSTM 38 is rated to drill 9000 m below mud line in over 2700 m water depth. It has an operational displacement of over 38,000 tonnes and can accommodate 130persons. It also features both vertical and horizontal riser storage and is configured with eight 3,000 kW azimuth thrusters to keep the rig in position.

Designed to maximise uptime with reduced emissions and discharges, a DSSTM 38 rig is well-suited to handle the operational requirements in the deepwater "Golden Triangle" region, which comprises Brazil, Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.