Samsung Heavy sells drillship to Italian offshore drilling company

Samsung Heavy Industries said on Tuesday in a regulatory filing that it has sold a drillship to Saipem, an Italian offshore drilling company, for 299.1 billion won.

The company signed a two-year charter contract with a purchase option for the "Santorini" drillship with Saipem in June of last year.

Previously, Samsung Heavy Industries agreed on the sale of four drillships worth about 1 trillion won in total to domestic private equity fund Curious Crete in May of this year.

Curious Crete closed the deal of two vessels as demand for drillships for deep-sea oil field projects increased due to strong oil prices, and negotiations on the sale of the remaining two vessels are currently underway, a Samsung Heavy Industries official said.

"This sale has relieved the financial burden related to drillships. As we have secured additional liquidity, we will work harder to normalize our management," the same official added. 

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com