Following are brief descriptions of rig-building shipyards in the US.
Vicksburg, Miss.
The LeTourneau yard in Vicksburg, Miss., was the first shipyard to build a jack up rig in the US. Between 1958 and 2010, it delivered 87 rigs. The yard occupies 90 acres adjacent to the Mississippi River and exclusively builds LeTourneau-designed rigs. In recent years, several Workhorse 240C class rigs have been built.
Due to the height of the bridges along the Mississippi River, only the lower sections of a rig's legs are attached in Vicksburg. Upper sections are fabricated in Vicksburg and attached at the company's shipyard in Sabine Pass, Tex. The derrick also must be attached after leaving Vicksburg. The Vicksburg shipyard does not have the ability to modify or repair rigs, due to the bridges, or the infrastructure typically associated with large shipyards (drydocks or launching systems) and must instead "walk" rigs into the water. Despite its historical success, the Vicksburg shipyard has attracted smaller numbers of new orders and has apparently become uncompetitive.
During 2000-11, LeTourneau was owned by drilling services contractor Rowan which was the shipyard's major customer. In 2011, LeTourneau, was sold to Joy Global, which sold LeTourneau's drilling equipment operations to Cameron for $375 million. After the delivery of the Joe Douglas in 2011, the shipyard has no further work contracted, but it is likely that some work will continue in Vicksburg, primarily the construction of legs and elevating systems for LeTourneau-designed rigs built elsewhere.
Brownsville, Tex.
The Brownsville shipyard occupies approximately 170 acres along the Brownsville Ship Channel east of Brownsville, Tex. The yard began building offshore drilling rigs in 1973 as the Marathon LeTourneau shipyard. In 1991 it was bought by Keppel and renamed Keppel AmFELS.
Since reopening, AmFELS has primarily built jack up rigs but has also built a tension leg platform, accommodation platforms, the Q4000 semisubmersible deepwater intervention vessel, drilling barges, derrick barges, and other vessels. The AmFELS yard has also upgraded several jack up and semisubmersible rigs including the jack ups Ocean Spartan and Ensco 67 and semisubmersible Hakuryu-5. Since 2007, AmFELS has built LeTourneau-designed Super 116E rigs for Rowan, Perforadora Central, and Scorpion Offshore (now part of Seadrill). AmFELS has secured jack up construction work through early 2013 and stands to benefit from any reduction in activity at the Vicksburg yard.