DSME honored for Korea’s first drillship

Time:2014-08-28 Browse:55 Author:RISINGSUN
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering received a plaque of appreciation for building South Korea’s first drilling rig, which has been used to help secure the nation’s energy sources over the last 30 years.

Built in 1984, the drilling unit Doo Sung was acquired by the Korea National Oil Corp., which was aiming to stabilize Korea’s oil supply in the aftermath of an oil price shock that rattled the Korean economy in 1973.

Ko Jae-ho (third from right), chief executive of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, receives an appreciation plaque from Suh Moon-Kyu (third from left), president and CEO of Korea National Oil Corp., at DSME’s Okpo Shipyard on Geojedo Island, South Gyeongsang Province, Aug. 21. (Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering)“Built using DSME’s excellent shipbuilding technology and experience, Doo Sung has been a success in the global offshore drilling market,” said Suh Moon-Kyu, the KNOC chief executive, when he gave DSME the award for the drilling rig last week.

Doosung, Korea’s only existing semisubmersible rig, handled not only oil and gas exploration in the Korean seas, but also international offshore contract drilling services.

Over the past three decades, Doo Sung has helped drill 117 wells in nine countries. As of last year, it posted cumulative sales and profit of 692 billion won ($677.4 million) and 203 billion won, respectively.

The drillship also contributed to Korea’s rise to the 95th-largest oil-producing country in the world by detecting the country’s first gas field, the Donghae-1, in 1998. It boasts a 51 percent success rate in drilling, far surpassing the global average of 30 percent.

“Doo Sung’s success was based on a combination of DSME’s cutting-edge offshore plant technology and the KNOC’s management know-how,” said Ko Jae-ho, chief executive of DSME.