ENSCO 120 on Hawk.

I thought I could see an oil rig at Newhaven today so went down for a look. I was surprised to find that it was nearer Fife than Newhaven!

What we have here is ENSCO 120 (owned by Ensco plc of London) which is a "harsh environment jackup rig" designed to operate in waters up to 400 feet deep (although it can jack up to 540 feet). It was built in Singapore and is en-route to it's working destination in the North Sea. It is being leased by Nexen Inc. (a Canadian firm and the second largest producer of oil in the UK North Sea) for a day rate of $230,000.

It is being carried on Hawk which is a semi-submersible heavy lift vessel designed to carry loads of up to 30,000 tonnes for the oil and gas industry. Owned and operated by OHT of Norway, she was originally a Suezmax tanker built in 1989 and converted to a heavy lift vessel in Shanghai 1n 2008.