Offshore drilling contractor Northern Ocean and oil and gas firm Rhino Resources have signed a contract extension for Deepsea Mira semi-submersible drilling rig for work offshore Namibia.
The contract for Deepsea Mira with Rhino Resources, signed in July 2025, has been amended to incorporate an additional firm well test, aside for the initial one firm well agreed earlier.
Using Deepsea Mira, Rhino Resources made a high liquid-yield gas condensate discovery off the coast of Namibia in a well spudded on July 31, 2025, as part of a drilling campaign in Block 2914A.
PEL85, located in the Orange Basin, is operated by Rhino with a working interest of 42.5%, with partners Azule Energy (42.5%), NAMCOR (10%), and Korres Investments (5%).
As a result of the amended agreement, the firm term of the contract has been extended by a total of 28 days. This additional well test will take place prior to the existing three optional wells.
According to Northern Ocean, the extension will increase its firm backlog to approximately $394 million.
Built in 2019, the Deepsea Mira is a sixth generation dynamically positioned/anchor-moored semi-submersible drilling rig of Moss Maritime CS60E design. It is designed to operate in both benign and harsh environments, with a maximum operational water depth of 3000 meters.
The drilling rig is owned by Northern Ocean and managed by the Norwegian drilling firm Odfjell Drilling.