''Deepwater Nautilus'' is an ultra-deepwater,

semi-submersible Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as: *Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport *Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface *S ...

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the ter ...

rig Rig or RIG may refer to: Objects and structures * Rig (fishing), an arrangement of items used for fishing * Drilling rig, a structure housing equipment used to drill or extract oil from underground * Rig (stage lighting) * rig, a horse-drawn c ...

. Built in 2000 in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, she is owned by

Transocean Transocean Ltd. is an American drilling company. It is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue and is based in Steinhausen, Switzerland. The company has offices in 20 countries, including Canada, the United States, ...

, registered in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

, and currently leased to

Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as PETRONAS (stylised in all caps), is a Malaysian Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1974, it is a lega ...

at the rate of $140,000 per day for drilling operations in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

.Transocean Fleet Status Report: February 2020
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Description

''Deepwater Nautilus'' is a fifth-generation, RBS-8M design, ultra-deepwater, column-stabilized, semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, designed to drill

subsea Subsea technology involves fully submerged ocean equipment, operations, or applications, especially when some distance offshore, in deep ocean waters, or on the seabed. The term ''subsea'' is frequently used in connection with oceanography, marin ...

wells for oil exploration and production. She was designed by Reading & Bates RBS-8M and built by

Hyundai Heavy Industries HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI; ) is the world's largest shipbuilding company and a major heavy equipment manufacturer. Its headquarters are in Ulsan, South Korea. History HHI was founded in 1972 by Chung Ju-yung as a division ...

in 2000 at the

Ulsan Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...

shipyard in

. ''Deepwater Nautilus'' can operate at water depths up to and has drilling depth down to .

History

Drilling

In 2000, ''Deepwater Nautilus'' set the world water-depth record for an offshore drilling rig operating in moored configuration at at the Alaminos Canyon block 557 in the United States sector of the Gulf of Mexico. In 2002, ''Deepwater Nautilus'' discovered oil at the Shell-operated Great White oil field in Alaminos Canyon block 813. On March 6, 2002, she drilled a well in water depth of at the Great White field (Alaminos Canyon block 857). In the same year, the new record was set at while drilling at the Alaminos Canyon block 813. This record was surpassed in 2003 by water depth of at the Alaminos Canyon block 857. In 2004, the water-depth of was achieved in Lloyd block 399. In March 2009, ''Deepwater Nautilus'' discovered oil at the Appomattox prospect in

Mississippi Canyon The Mississippi Canyon is an Submarine canyon, undersea canyon, part of the Mississippi Submarine Valley in the North-central Gulf of Mexico, south of Louisiana. According to the United States Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey GLORIA Map ...

blocks 391 and 392.

Incidents

In 2004, at the time of

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic h ...

''Deepwater Nautilus'' broke free from its location. In 2005, as a result of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

''Deepwater Nautilus'' had drifted off location. All personnel had been safely evacuated before the approach of the storm. The rig's mooring system revealed significant damage and the rig lost approximately of marine riser and a portion of the subsea well control system. Less than a month later, ''Deepwater Nautilus'' broke free during

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico, tying with Hurricane Milton in 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, 2024, as well as being the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the ...

References

{{Transocean ultra-deepwater drilling rigs 2000 ships Drilling rigs Semi-submersibles Ships of Panama Ships built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group Transocean