World Water Depth Drill Record
The new world water depth drilling record set by Transocean drillship Discoverer Deep Seas was accomplished using a Sonardyne dual redundant subsea acoustic positioning system. The record was set last November when the vessel spudded a well in 10,011 feet (3,051 metres) of water in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Discoverer Deep Seas has been equipped with a dual Sonardyne Long and Ultra-Short BaseLine (LUSBL) system since December 2002 and uses it as a highly accurate position reference for its DP system. The system is particularly suited to deepwater applications as it combines the performance derived from Long BaseLine (LBL) positioning, where accuracy is virtually independent of water depth, with the operational convenience of Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) positioning.
The new record was achieved during construction of ChevronTexaco's Toledo well in Alaminos Canyon block 951 and marks the first time that a drilling rig has explored for oil and natural gas in more than 10,000 feet of water. The previous record of 9,727 feet was set in October 2001 by the Discoverer Spirit, one of nine other vessels in the Transocean fleet that are also equipped with Sonardyne systems.