Scarabeo-9

Liberian-flagged and DNV-classed, Scarabeo 9 is a semi-submersible drilling vessel built by Yantai Raffles that conducted a deepwater drilling campaign off Cuba for Repsol. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was hopeful Russian oil company Rosneft and Cuban state oil company Cupet could begin jointly exploring Cuba’s potential offshore oil reserves “in the very near future.” Shortly before Putin began his six-day trip to Latin America, Rosneft and fellow state oil company Zarubezhneft agreed to help Cupet explore offshore in Cuba, which has limited onshore production and depends on Venezuela for oil imports. Putin also said a number of Russian companies were interested in doing business in Cuba’s new special economic zone at the port of Mariel near Havana. Cuba has touted the special zone as crucial for its development but so far no foreign companies have signed agreements to operate there.

Keppel FELS Ltd (Keppel FELS) is on schedule to deliver an ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig, Scarabeo 9, to Saipem S.P.A (Saipem) with no lost time incident. A significant part of Keppel FELS' workscope on Scarabeo 9 involved the completion and commissioning of marine and drilling systems onboard. "This sixth generation rig will be an important addition to our fleet as we expand our foothold to become one of the best balanced turnkey operators in the offshore and marine industry," said Saipem Chief Executive Officer Pietro Franco Tali at a naming ceremony for the rig here today. The semi-submersible rig is equipped with a dynamic positioning system and is capable of operating in water depths of up to 3,600 meters.