In recognition of the drillship’s outstanding performance in all aspects during its time in Brunei Darussalam, Shell has named Maersk Viking its 2021 Global Rig of the Year in the Floater Category.

Maersk Viking is a high-spec ultra-deepwater drillship which was delivered in 2013. A Samsung 96K designed drillship with several Maersk Drilling upgrades including Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD). The design and capacities of the drillship includes features for high efficiency operation. It is currently operating with Shell offshore Malaysia.
Maersk Viking commenced a two-well exploration drilling contract with Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn. Bhd. (BSP) in April 2021, and Shell justifies the Rig of the Year award with an all-round excellent performance in every area including safety, operational efficiency, and the safe and successful start-up of the campaign with BSP.

“2021 was an amazing year with many highlights for Maersk Viking, and it is a great honour to receive this award and recognition from Shell. The award is testament of how we have delivered best-in-class performance during the start-up and completion of operations in Brunei in a year that was still challenged by COVID-19. I would like to thank everyone that helped us deliver this success, both our highly dedicated and capable crew and many onshore colleagues including the virtual rig team based in Gdansk. We’re proud to be able to build on this success in our current campaign with Shell in Malaysia,” says Menno Bosma, Unit Director, Maersk Viking.

Maersk Drilling’s successful customer relationship with Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) dates back to 2007 and has resulted in multiple Rig of the Year awards including three consecutive wins in the Jack-up Rig Category for Maersk Convincer from 2018 to 2020. In total, Maersk Drilling has now won nine Rig of the Year awards from Shell during the last decade.

“We’re extremely proud to receive this award which recognises the extraordinary efforts of the entire Maersk Viking team in close collaboration with our long-term customers at BSP. I want to congratulate everyone that has contributed to this success, including both onshore and offshore colleagues as well as our partners with both the customer and the service companies involved. The award is also a testament to how well aligned Shell and we are in our approach to all aspects of operations, and how this collaboration produces great results,” says COO Morten Kelstrup of Maersk Drilling.