Shell EP Offshore Ventures and Frontier Drillships have signed a deepwater/arctic drillship Joint Venture agreement to build and rollout a new drillship concept, known as the “Bully” rig. GustoMSC designed the “Bully” as a customization of its proprietary PRD12,000 design drillship, and are now adapting the unit for a Huisman-Itrec MPT (Multi-Purpose Tower) drilling system. The “Bully” rig design offers a flexible, smaller but highly capable, vessel suited for deepwater and arctic drilling, while reducing the construction and operational costs compared to other deepwater drill ships of similar capacity.

The vessel will feature an ice class hull allowing for safe and efficient operation in arctic conditions. The innovative design offers flexibility in rapid deployment and capability of drilling with surface blow-out preventers in up to 12,000 ft water depth. The new drillships have a significantly reduced environmental impact due to lower emissions through reduced fuel consumption, high efficiency/low emission engines and lower steel use for construction. The first vessel for the Shell/Frontier Joint Venture is expected to be delivered by early 2010. GustoMSC’s scope included the customization of its original PRD12,000 design and ice tank testing.