General – Drilling Contract
Vantage Drilling has received a binding Notification of Award (NOA) from India’s ONGC for the 12,000-ft drillship Platinum Explorer following the conclusion of a tender for a deepwater drillship campaign in India.
This is for a three-year firm, plus one-year optional period, with an estimated total contract value of $261 million, exclusive of MPD Services. The contract will begin no later than 180 days after the issuance of the NOA in line with the requirements of the tender, Vantage stated on Tuesday.
The Platinum Explorer is currently stacked in Malaysia, where it returned in November 2025 after having its derrick reinstalled at the Seatrium yard in Singapore.
The drillship was moved from Malaysia to the yard in Singapore in the first half of 2025 in preparation for an upcoming contract, understood to be in the Black Sea. Work at the yard included the removal of the rig’s derrick, which is typically done to allow drilling rigs to enter the Black Sea via the Bosporus Strait.
However, this upcoming contract was terminated in October 2025 due to economic sanctions. The derrick was reinstalled before Platinum Explorer left Singapore for Labuan, Malaysia, at the beginning of November 2025.
