Signal International to upgrade Transocean drillship

Signal International has reportedly won a $32.4 million contract with Transocean to refurbish and upgrade the drillship Deepwater Navigator.

The Mobile Press Register says the contract will be the first in which Signal uses both its shipyards in Pascagoula, Miss., and in Mobile, Ala., on the same project. The Mobile yard is, of course, the former Bender Shipbuilding facility. The newspaper says that Signal is hiring in all crafts at both yards.

The drillship will arrive in Pascagoula. Equipment and modules will be removed for refurbishing or rebuilding.The vessel will then go to Mobile for hull, tank and thruster repairs. The main propulsion system will be serviced and the lower hull painted, before the ship returns to Pascagoula for new and refurbished equipment and modules to be installed.

The work should take 160 days to complete.