Strong demand for rigs of all types, in tandem with shrinkage of the rig fleet since the mid-1980s, has pushed Gulf of Mexico rig fleet utilization rates to their highest levels in some years (OGJ, Nov. 25, 1996, p. 24).
Litton Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding division, Pascagoula, Miss., last month completed what it described as "innovative" repair work on the Dolphin 110 jack up owned by Sundowner Offshore Services Inc., Houston.
The rig arrived May 5 and was placed in Ingall's floating drydock. It then was moved from the drydock via Ingalls' wheel-on-rail transfer system to an onshore work area for leg removal. Four 190-ft legs were taken into covered slab area (CSA) work bays, where jacking racks were replaced.
Ingalls and Sundowner cited advantages to working within the CSA, notably that alignment of the legs would have been more difficult to accomplish vertically.
The Dolphin 110 jack up is shown being towed down the Pascagoula Ship Channel to a drilling site off Louisiana. Photo courtesy of Ingalls.
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