TTS Group ASA has lost a contract for a lifting equipment package on a new ultra-deepwater drillship after Sigma Drilling Ltd terminated a construction contract with STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.(STX).
Cayman Islands-based Vantage Drilling Company has Sigma, which it part owns, had terminated a construction contract for a new, high-specification drillship with STX, in Korea, on January 8.
The move came after STX notified Sigma it was suspending activity on the project on August 29, 2013, due to efforts to restructure its operations and finances. The parties had attempted to move the project to an alternative, mutually agreed shipyard, but this had not resulted in an agreement.
TTS Group's subsidiary TTS Offshore Handling Equipment AS had signed a contract, in October 2012, with STX to supply a complete lifting equipment package for the new drillship. TTS has an indirect minor ownership position in Sigma Drilling Ltd.
TTS has invested US$5 million in Sigma Drilling AS in connection with Sigma placing the order for a drillship with STX. The Skeie group, who controls about 30% of the shares of TTS Group ASA, has invested in Sigma separately.
Vantage is an offshore drilling contractor, with three ultra-deepwater drillships, the Platinum Explorer, the Titanium Explorer and the Tungsten Explorer, as well as an additional ultra-deepwater drillship, the Cobalt Explorer, now under construction, and four Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 ultra-premium jackup drilling rigs.
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