After two years of development and construction, Herrenknecht has completed an innovative deep drilling rig which is currently being deployed by the operator Swift Drilling in the North Sea. The rig, which is operating from the "SWIFT 10" jack-up barge, will drill for oil and gas deposits for Shell and the Dutch NAM in the southern North Sea in the coming years. Depths of down to 5,000 meters can be reached with so-called slimhole drills.

The "B-011", as the drilling rig of the Terra Invader 250CL type is called, allows particularly accurate and safe drilling operations due to its hydraulic cylinder hoisting system. The hydraulically operated rig is extensively automated: The pipe handling of the drill pipes and casings means that no personnel need to work in danger areas, which substantially increases work safety. Moreover, the high degree of automation reduces personnel requirements. The high-tech drilling rig, which is controlled from a control cabin, makes sure that the supervision of all drilling-relevant procedures can be carried out from a safe distance.

The deep drilling rig has successfully completed its first offshore job in the southern North Sea thanks to the excellently coordinated drilling crews of the operator. A sub sea well abandonment was executed at a depth of 3,200 meters. The second operation will also be a real challenge: The Terra Invader 250CL will carry out two slimhole wells on an existing platform in the open sea.