Drilling rig retrofit & automation

Much of the marine geotechnical fleet was built years ago and is now being pushed into deeper water, heavier payloads and stricter standards than it was designed for. Replacing a serviceable rig is expensive and slow. Instead, we take a legacy drill from audit through to a coherent upgrade package, bringing it up to current standards and extending its capability, on the existing asset. It’s the same gap-filling logic behind our retrofit automation and iron-roughneck work, applied to the whole drilling spread.

What a retrofit package covers

• Audit first – a structured assessment of the rig’s mechanical condition, hydraulics, load paths and standards-compliance, so the upgrade is scoped to the asset as it actually is.
• Heave-compensation upgrade – increasing compensation stroke and capability (for example re-reeving a line tensioner from a 2:1 to a 3:1 arrangement) and adding active assist where it’s worth it.
• Deep-water deployment – uprating the seabed-frame deployment for greater water depth, including two-fall arrangements and rotation-resistant rope for stability.
• Draw-works, winch & wire-rope – selection, fatigue assessment and re-rating of the hoisting system and its rope for the new duty.
• Pressure-system & accumulator compliance – bringing the hydraulics and accumulators up to current pressure-equipment standards.
• Residual-safety package – anti-recoil velocity-fuse valves, winch guarding, E-stops and derrick access, closing out the safety case.

The result is a rig that meets current standards and reaches the water depths and payloads the work now demands, proven, re-certified and back in service far faster and cheaper than a new build.