Ocean Rig buys Cerrado drillship
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Cyprus-based Ocean Rig has stepped in to buy the sixth generation ultra-deepwater (UDW) drillship Cerrado, which once drilled the giant Libra prospect offshore Brazil, following its owner Brazil-based Schahin Group bankruptcy declaration last April.
Ocean Rig paid US$65 million at auction for the UDW drillship. The drillship was built at Samsung Heavy Industries in 2011 to similar design specifications as the company’s existing 6th generation drillships built at Samsung, and will be renamed the Ocean Rig Paros upon its delivery to Ocean Rig.
The Cerrado drillship bought at auction was previously operated by a unit of the Brazilian firm Schahin Group, which in April 2015 filed for bankruptcy after racking up billions of dollars in debt. Schahin financers likely paid somewhere in the range of $600 to $700 million for the drillship when it was first ordered.
Another subsidiary of the Company has been acting as the manager of the drillship for its previous owners. The transaction is expected to close upon completion of the judicial auction procedure.