The Future of Long-Idle Drillships: Cold-Stacked or Dead-Stacked?

Noble Corporation’s recent decision to sell the Pacific Meltem and Pacific Scirocco for non-drilling purposes highlights a key issue in the drillship market: What happens to cold-stacked rigs that are unlikely to return to work? With the floater market showing signs of weakness and contract opportunities becoming scarcer, reactivating these units is proving even more challenging.

Esgian Rig Values has adjusted its valuations since early 2025 to reflect these conditions, reducing 6th generation drillship values by approximately 12%, 7th generation values by approximately 6.5%, and cold-stacked rig values by a further 10% in February leading to a 24% reduction year to date for the latter. While some of these could technically be reactivated, the high costs and uncertain contract prospects make recycling or conversion a more viable option for older, long-idle rigs.

Transocean, which holds the largest pool of cold-stacked drillships, may eventually have to make tough decisions on rigs such as Discoverer Clear Leader and Discoverer Americas, which have been stacked for over seven years. Valaris DS-11, stacked since 2022, is another possible recycling/conversion candidate. Meanwhile, the demand outlook over the next 24 months remains challenging, with contracted competitive utilization projected to decline from 90% to 73% by