Sembcorp Marine has delivered the Maersk Highlander jack-up rig to Maersk Highlander UK for the £3bn Culzean field development project in the UK North Sea.
The rig has been built by Sembcorp Marine subsidiary Jurong Shipyard for harsh-environment operations.
With construction based on the Friede & Goldman JU 2000E design, the Maersk Highlander is fully compliant with UK HSE standards.
Featuring 2-million-pound drilling capacity, 6,000 barrels of mud capacity, 28,000-kip preload capacity for the legs, the heavy-duty offshore drilling asset can operate in water depths of up to 400ft and drill to 30,000ft deep.
The jackup rig delivery follows $190m deal signed by Maersk to acquire it from Hercules Offshore.
Maersk Group executive board member Claus Hemmingsen said: "This agreement represents an opportunity for Maersk Drilling to acquire a newbuild harsh environment jack-up backed by a firm long-term contract.
"We look forward to working with Maersk Oil and its partners on the Culzean gas field."
According to estimate, the field contains 250-300 million barrels of oil equivalent and can be operational for over 13 years.
The rig will be deployed at the Culzean field development in the North Sea to commence a five-year drilling contract with Maersk Oil and its partners, BP and JX Nippon.
The five-year drilling contract is valued at approximately $420m, including $9m mobilization fee.