Transocean has walked away from two ultra deepwater drillships under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) as Transocean seeks to save on costs.

The South Korean company announced that in a stock exchange filing that Switzerland-based Transocean expressed intention to cancel the orders last month.

“Upon relinquishment of the drillships, Transocean’s indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries will not make further payments to SHI under the construction contracts. The total estimated future costs associated with the delivery and placing the drillships into service would have been approximately $1.1bn, which includes future payments to SHI under the construction contracts and costs related to spares, materials and supplies, and to the commissioning and mobilisation of the rigs,” Transocean stated.

Maritime Business World