Noble Drilling to Decommission Two Cold-Stacked Drillships

Noble Drilling has made the decision to decommission two relatively young, cold-stacked drillships that have been sitting idle in the Canary Islands since the offshore downturn of the mid-2010s. The vessels, Pacific Meltem (built in 2014) and Pacific Scirocco (built in 2011), were both part of the former Pacific Drilling fleet and were constructed by Samsung. Despite their relatively young age in ship years, both drillships have been in storage for an extended period and have now been earmarked for possible demolition sale.

Following the acquisitions of Pacific Drilling in 2021 and Diamond Drilling in 2024, Noble currently owns a total of 28 floaters, including 14 7th-generation drillships. The decision to divest of Meltem and Scirocco was driven by the need to eliminate the ongoing costs associated with maintaining these idle assets.

The sale of these two drillships will mark their retirement from the drilling market, with the possibility of scrapping being considered. Noble’s President and CEO, Robert W. Eifler, stated, “Our decision to retire these non-contributing assets is based on a continuous cost-benefit evaluation of idle capacity. These retirements will be immediately cash flow accretive and result in a leaner, fitter fleet composition for Noble moving forward.”