Maersk Drilling has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Shelf Drilling, Ltd. to sell the jack-up rig Maersk Completer for USD 38m in an all-cash transaction. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and the rig is expected to be delivered in January 2020.

Maersk Completer, which was delivered in 2007, has been stacked in Singapore since 2017.

“The sale is in line with our decision to concentrate our jack-up activities in the harsh environments in the North Sea, where we have our strengths and a better competitive position. With limited prospects for our reactivation of Maersk Completer we believe a sale creates the highest value for Maersk Drilling and our shareholders,” says Jesper Ridder Olsen, CFO of Maersk Drilling.

The sale results in a pre-tax accounting loss of USD 34m.

After the sale, Maersk Drilling’s rig fleet counts 14 jack-up rigs, of which 13 are suited for operation in harsh environments, and eight floaters.