Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has announced plans to dispose of five cold stacked rigs — four 6th generation drillships and one semisubmersible — through sale to a third party for recycling or alternative use.

The rigs marked for disposal include the drillships Discoverer Clear Leader, Discoverer Americas, Deepwater Champion, and Discoverer India, along with the semisubmersible Henry Goodrich. All units have been cold stacked for several years and are now classified as “held for sale.”

As a result, Transocean expects to record a non-cash charge of approximately $1.9 billion in its Q3 2025 financial results, reflecting the impairment of these assets.

The Henry Goodrich, a 5,000-ft Sonat/Mitsui 5000 SES design harsh-environment semisubmersible, first entered service in 1985. It was cold stacked in Newfoundland, Canada, in early 2020 before being towed to Norway in July 2025.

The four drillships, each with a 12,000-ft water depth capacity, were delivered between 2009 and 2010. They have remained cold stacked in Greece — Discoverer Americas and Deepwater Champion since 2016, Discoverer Clear Leader since 2019, and Discoverer India since 2020.

This move follows Transocean’s recent disposal of the drillship Discoverer Luanda and the semisubmersible GSF Development Driller I in July 2025, along with classifying the Development Driller III and Discoverer Inspiration as held for sale.

Once the current disposals are completed, Transocean’s cold stacked fleet will be reduced to just three Samsung 12000 drillships: Ocean Rig Mylos, Ocean Rig Athena, and Ocean Rig Apollo.