Deepwater Millennium is a fifth generation Samsung

Samsung

The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...

/Reading & Bates designed, dynamic positioned (DP)

Dynamic positioning

Dynamic positioning is a computer controlled system to automatically maintain a vessel's position and heading by using its own propellers and thrusters...

 Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

-flagged

Flag of convenience

The term flag of convenience describes the business practice of registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state different from that of the ship's owners, and flying that state's civil ensign on the ship. Ships are registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating costs or avoid the...

 drillship

Drillship

A drillship is a maritime vessel that has been fitted with drilling apparatus. It is most often used for exploratory offshore drilling of new oil or gas wells in deep water or for scientific drilling. The drillship can also be used as a platform to carry out well maintenance or completion work such...

 owned by Transocean

Transocean

Transocean Ltd. is one of the world's largest offshore drilling contractors. The company rents floating mobile drill rigs, along with the equipment and personnel for operations, to oil and gas companies at an average daily rate of US$282,700...

. The vessel is capable of drilling in water depths up to 8,100 ft (upgradable to 10,000 ft) using an 18.75 in (47.6 cm), 15,000 psi blowout preventer

Blowout preventer

A blowout preventer is a large, specialized valve used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas wells. Blowout preventers were developed to cope with extreme erratic pressures and uncontrolled flow emanating from a well reservoir during drilling. Kicks can lead to a potentially catastrophic...

 (BOP), and a 21 in (53.3 cm) outside diameter (OD) marine riser.

History

Built originally for R&B Falcon, she was completed in 1999 by Samsung Heavy Industries

Samsung Heavy Industries

Samsung Heavy Industries or SHI is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world and one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea...

 in Geoje

Geoje

Geoje is a city located in South Gyeongsang province, just off the coast of the port city of Busan, South Korea. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Okpo and Samsung Heavy Industries in Gohyeon are both located on Geoje Island. The city also offers a wide range of tourist sights...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. In 2001 R&B Falcon merged with Transocean Sedco-Forex. She is the third of five Deepwater Pathfinder class ships.

After initial work in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

, Deepwater Millennium drilled wells off West Africa and Brazil. With the exception of one well off Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 in the summer of 2002, she has been in the Gulf continuously since 2001. Her work includes wells for Kerr-McGee

Kerr-McGee

The Kerr-McGee Corporation, founded in 1929, was an energy company involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas. On June 23, 2006, Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation agreed to acquire Kerr-McGee in an all-cash transaction totaling $16.5 billion plus the assumption of $2.6...

, Pioneer, Marathon Oil

Marathon Oil

Marathon Oil Corporation is a United States-based oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Principal exploration activities are in the United States, Norway, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Canada. Principal development activities are in the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway,...

, Mariner, Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...

, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies, with approximately 2.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves and production of 206 million BOE as of December 31, 2008. Anadarko employs a worldwide...

, Statoil

Statoil

Statoil ASA is a Norwegian petroleum company established in 1972. It merged with Norsk Hydro in 2007 and was known as StatoilHydro until 2009, when the name was changed back to Statoil ASA. The brand Statoil was retained as a chain of fuel stations owned by StatoilHydro...

, and Petrobras

Petrobras

Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...

.

External links

• Transocean official website
• Deepwater Millennium at RigZone
• Deepwater Millennium — V7HD2 — latest reported position from Sailwx
  Sailwx
  Sailwx is an integrated maritime information service that aggregates worldwide ship locations into a single map. Weather conditions including ocean currents, wave height and tides are also available and can be integrated into ship location maps....