ASSIGNMENT

Submersible and semi submersible rigs

Submitted by- Group number -5

Amrit Raj Mannu (65)
Rajat Singh Teotia (69)
Shikha Dubey ( )
Anshul Chhetri (10)
Kumar Shubham ( )
Submersible and semi submersible rigs
A drilling rig is a machine which makes holes in the earth’s
subsurface. Rigs are very big structures equipment that is used for
drilling different types of well like oil well, water wells or natural gas
extracting wells.

Drilling rigs are broadly of two types which are onshore (land)
rig and offshore (marine) rigs.

The offshore rigs then are classified into two parts bottom
support rigs and floating rigs. The floating rigs are then further
classified into two type’s semi/submersible rigs and drill ship.

A Submersible Drilling Rig is a vessel which is mobile in nature

and can be floated to a mobile place or an area to perform offshore
drilling activities. It also known as a mobile offshore drilling unit, it is
mainly used as a mobile drilling structure. This drilling rig type is
made with the help of structures same as a flatboat that that is
moved down below the sea surface. The semi-submersible vessel
was created for the need for vessels that could stay afloat and carry
out their required functions in the high seas during the time of the
constant flow of the waves.

History
At the starting semi-submersible rigs were made only to be used in
shallow waters. Such rigs could be used in water levels up to 30
metres. But later as the time passed there was a need for rigs which
could be operated in more depths, the invention of the marine
equipment progressed. The first semi-submersible vessel was the
launched by the Blue Water Drilling Company in 1961. The name of
the rig was the Blue Water Rig No. 1. The concept of a semi
submersible vessel came out towards the early 21st century. Shell
Company’s Bruce Collipp is regarded as the trailblazer and the
creator of these big rigs who utilised the theory of landing planes in
sea platforms supported by ballast tanks in a columnar form.

Working
The semi-submersible vessel is supported by way of flatboat which is
located in the water sub-surface. Over the submersed part, there are
steel columns which provide rigidity and support to the semi-
submersible vessel. The pontoons are ballasted which means that it
becomes easier for the big ships to achieve submersion and
buoyancy easily. Also in case the vessel has to move from the deeper
depths of the offshore areas to the shallow areas, by removing out
the water from the tanks, height can be adjusted of the vessel. The
anchoring of the semi-submersible vessel is provided by the anchors
which are attached to cables and wires in a set of 6 to 12. As the
operating areas of the semi-submersible rigs are very high from the
submersible flatboats, there is minimum to nil danger of the big ships
to fall down into the water.

Market
The Latin American countries Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela are the
major global core or heart of the offshore drilling industry. Mexico,
Central and South America are showing an exceedingly attractive rig
utilization rate which is a good indicator for the increase in demand
in future. The European offshore rig market has shown very average
growth rates since 2010. The Asia-Pacific demand for the rigs is likely
to have very high growth rates within the forecast time. The region
has a semi submersible rigs utilization rate of over 70% and is likely
to grow as one of the most profitable markets in the future. The
geographical market segmentation can be done as Asia- Pacific, The
America.

Disadvantages
 Semi submersible rigs are expensive to build and operate.
 A major problem to this market is that it requires large dry dock
facilities for repairs.

Advantages
 Being disjointed from the seabed can operate in much deeper
water as compared to fully submersible rigs.
 The semi submersible rigs offer high mobility and stability
factors especially in a variety of marine conditions.
 Rigs can be towed at relatively faster speeds and can also
operate in larger working areas.