World's largest deepwater drilling rig under construction in China

Cosco Dalian Shipyard has commenced the construction of the first deepwater drilling rig built in China and the world's largest deepwater rig built to date.

The Dalian Pioneer is being built with a hull 290 meters in length and 50 meters in width. It is designed be operated in waters as deep as 10,000 ft and to drill to a maximum depth of more than 30,000 ft. It is to be capable of storing up to a million bbl of crude oil. The vessel, with its extensive deck space and large variable deck load capacity, is designed to accommodate process facilities as well.

Wang Xingru, general manager of Cosco Dalian, said that the construction of the Dalian Pioneer (formerly Dalian Developer) began on August 22 at the company's shipyard in Dalian, in northeastern China's Liaoning Province. He said that the drillship is being built under a contract with Deutsche Verkehrs-Bank (DVB) and that it will cost more than US$500 million before it is completed in 2012.

Vantage Drilling is to manage the construction and marketing of the combination drillship and floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO).