Jurong Shipyard, part of Sembcorp Marine, has signed an agreement to sell the semisubmersible rig West Rigel for US$500 million.
West Rigel was originally contracted by North Atlantic Rigel (NARL), a subsidiary of North Atlantic Drilling (NADL) and Seadrill. Both Seadrill and NADL have applied for restructuring under Chapter 11 in the US.
NARL and JSPL agreed a standstill deal on the West Rigel in December 2015, and have extended the agreement to July 2018. During the standstill period, NARL was to market the rig for an acceptable drilling contract and JSPL for the sale of the rig at an acceptable price, with the rig remain at the JSPL yard in Singapore during this period. If no employment is secured and no alternative transaction is completed when the standstill period concludes, the parties were due to form a joint asset holding company for joint ownership of the rig.
If the sale materialises, it will result in a loss of about S$24 million, says Jurong.
Under the terms of the agreement, the sale is subject to conditions, which, once fulfilled, will see the buyer take delivery, following which it will be reactivated at the yard.
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