''Discoverer Enterprise'' is a fifth generation deepwater double hulled dynamically positioned

drillship A drillship is a merchant vessel designed for use in exploratory offshore drilling of new oil and gas wells or for scientific drilling purposes. In recent years the vessels have been used in deepwater and ultra-deepwater applications, equipped ...

(

ASTANO Astano is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lugano (district), Lugano in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 6 April 2025, the former municipalities of Astano, Bedigliora, Curio, ...

FPSO design) owned and operated by Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., capable of operating in moderate environments and water depths up to 3,049 m (10,000 ft) using an , 15,000 psi

blowout preventer A blowout preventer (BOP) (pronounced B-O-P) is a specialized valve or similar mechanical device, used to seal, control and monitor oil well, oil and gas wells to prevent Blowout (well drilling), blowouts, the uncontrolled release of crude oil ...

(BOP), and a outside diameter (OD)

marine riser Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * Mari ...

. From 1998 to 2005 the vessel was Panama-flagged and currently flies the

flag of convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) refers to a business practice whereby a ship's owners Ship registration, register a Merchant vessel, merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ens ...

of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

. ''Discoverer Enterprise'' has two sister ships, ''Discoverer Spirit'' completed in 1999, and ''Discoverer Deep Seas'' completed in 2000. The ship was the first to offer a dual drilling derrick capability. The dual derricks allowed simultaneous operations to be performed, and according to Transocean increased efficiency by 40 percent. The US$360 million ship gives its name to the Enterprise

Class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

of large deepwater drillships.

''Deepwater Horizon'' spill response

The ship operates in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

under contract to BP. The drilling vessel has equipment that allow it to process hydrocarbons, and is capable of handling up to . On June 3, 2010, several weeks after the explosion of ''Deepwater Horizon'', ''Discoverer Enterprise'' was used to collect oil and gas from the damaged subsea wellhead by lowering a cap connected via a

drilling riser A drilling riser is a conduit that provides a temporary extension of a subsea oil well to a surface drilling facility. Drilling risers are categorised into two types: marine drilling risers used with subsea blowout preventer (BOP) and generally us ...

over the release, and collecting oil and gas.

References

External links

Transocean official website

''Discoverer Enterprise'' — V7HD2 — position and weather
at '' Sailwx'' {{Deepwater 1998 ships Deepwater Horizon oil spill Drillships Ships built in Spain Ships of the Marshall Islands Transocean

''Deepwater Horizon'' spill response

See also

References

External links