OREANDA-NEWS. Lamprell (LAM) completed the construction on the jackup drilling rig, "Qarnin", and its delivery to Abu Dhabi’s National Drilling Company (NDC). Completion and delivery of the jackup rig, on time and on budget, was marked at a ceremony held at Lamprell’s Hamriyah facility in the UAE on 13 February. The rig will depart the facility late February en route to its drilling location in Abu Dhabi.

The contract for the NDC "Qarnin" rig was signed in October 2011 and this is the third rig in a series of six identical rigs being built and delivered by Lamprell to NDC. All six rigs have been or will be designed according to the Cameron LeTourneau Super 116E (Enhanced) Class design. "Qarnin" rig now joins its sister rigs, ‘Makasib’ which was delivered by Lamprell to NDC in July 2012 and ‘Muhaiyimat’ which was delivered in December 2012. The remaining three rigs are all proceeding on schedule and will be delivered as planned in 2014/15.

With the delivery of ‘Qarnin’ rig, Lamprell has now delivered a total of 20 new build jackup rigs, and its eighth Super 116E jackup drilling unit to various clients during the last six years.

NDC Chief Executive Officer Abdalla Saeed Al Suwaidi commented:
"NDC’s commitment to creating steady growth, advancing operational excellence and establishing the highest levels of safety and efficiency have enabled it to become the reliable Abu Dhabi based drilling services provider that it is today.

A modern rig fleet is essential to sustainable success and NDC launched this major Offshore Rigs Acquisition Project to guarantee the highest levels of reliability and ensure complete readiness to meet our clients’ present and future needs. We would like to express our appreciation to Lamprell for their cooperation and dedication throughout the duration of this project."

Commenting on the delivery, Jim Moffat, Chief Executive Officer, Lamprell, said:
"I am pleased to announce the completion and delivery of this third jack-up rig to NDC, on time and within budget, to world class standards of safety and quality. The delivery of this latest rig is testament to Lamprell’s excellent capabilities in project execution in the field of new build jack-up rigs.

This successful project delivery would not have taken place without close teamwork and the strong relationship between the Lamprell and NDC project and management teams. We look forward to working with NDC on the remaining three projects which are all proceeding well and as planned."