Horse Shoe is a new semisubmersible rig concept from Dietswell Engineering, designed to reduce rig-up time and costs associated with tender-assist drilling. Following a request from Thailand's PTTEP, Paris-based Dietswell adapted the design from a deck-mating technique it had devised previously for a production and living quarters platform. According to Dietswell's Vice President Dominique Michel, "PTTEP were not dissatisfied with the drilling performance of conventional tender-assisted rigs. However, they are quite interested in our new design, in particular the 'rig-up-in-one-go' feature. They have not paid us for this study, but we have been qualified as a drilling contractor to respond to their upcoming tender for a five-year drilling campaign." The Horse Shoe is an 80 m (262 ft) long, 46 m (151 ft) wide semisubmersible, with a height of 40.2 m (132 ft) at its bow and 21 m (68.9 ft) at the stern, and an operating draft of 13 m (42.6 ft). The rig, which has a displacement of 21,500 metric tons (23,699 tons) when fully loaded, is capable of placing an entire derrick set weighing up to 800 metric tons (882 tons) on a wellhead platform, in water depths varying from 16-300 m (52.5-984 ft) - deeper than for conventional tender-assist barges. In normal weather conditions, rig-up should be completed within one day.
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