George Economou’s rig company has paid $65m for the 228-metre Cerrado (built 2011), which had a yard price of about $680m in South Korea just five year ago.
As a backdrop, it is good to remember the sad state of the drilling market, as well as understanding the exceptionally high layup and reactivation costs for UDW rigs.
The UDW fleet stands at 85 active drillships that are chasing demand for just 74 units, while 19 UDW drillships are cold-stacked and 22 are on order, according to rig broker Fearnley Offshore for April.
