Hanwha Ocean Co. unveiled its next-generation drillship “Tidal Action” at a naming ceremony held Monday at the company’s Geoje shipyard, marking the Korean shipbuilder’s entry into the deep-sea drilling market.
The vessel can drill at depths up to 12 kilometers in waters as deep as 3.6 kilometers, equipped with advanced dynamic positioning systems and blowout preventers for operations in challenging environments.
The drillship has secured its first contract worth approximately 680 billion won ($500 million) with Brazilian state-owned energy giant Petrobras. Operations are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2025 at the Roncador field in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil under a 30-month agreement.
This milestone follows Hanwha Ocean’s February 2024 establishment of Hanwha Drilling to independently manage its drillships. The unit will be operated by Brazilian drilling contractor Constellation, marking the first time the company will manage a third-party owned vessel.
“Delivering a world-class drillship and officially entering the offshore drilling business is a meaningful achievement,” said Phillip Levy, president of Hanwha Ocean’s Marine Business Division, who attended the ceremony alongside executives from Petrobras and Constellation.
The company aims to leverage its eco-friendly drillship construction technology while expanding its value chain to provide comprehensive offshore platform-based marine energy solutions. Hanwha Ocean is working to transform into an EPCIO (Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation, and Operation) solution provider within the marine business sector.
