Parker Instrumentation’s tube fittings and valves are employed exclusively on a new drilling platform currently being commissioned in the Caspian Sea. Constructed by KeppelFELS and the Caspian Shipyard Company, the new semi-submersible has been delivered substantially ahead of project schedule to Maersk Contractors. “This semi-submersible will be the biggest and most powerful drilling platform in the Caspian Sea,” says Steve Mullen of Parker Instrumentation. The new four-column, twin-catamaran pontoon rig is based on the DSS-20-CAS-M design, developed by Marine Structure Consultants of the Netherlands and KeppelFELS of Singapore. Construction of the rig has taken three years. It has a deckload capacity of around 4000 tons and is rated to drill to 30,000 ft in just over 3000 ft of water, serving the deepest areas of the Caspian Sea. Parker products supplied as part of this project include A-LOK instrument tube fittings, discrete valves, and manifolds. Total project value for Parker’s products is estimated to be more than a quarter of a million dollars, including all the items supplied to equipment OEMs.
