Seadrill Limited, the Bermudian-based offshore drilling company, has been awarded three contracts with a total value of $404 million by a leading operator.

The contracts have been awarded for the West Ariel, West Cressida, and West Leda jack-up rigs for work in the Middle East.

The firm term of each contract is three years with expected commencement between Q1 2023 and Q2 2023.

Upon commencement of the contracts, Seadrill will operate seven units directly and have a further three units on bareboat charter in the Middle East, a region that the company has been operating in since 2013.

Simon Johnson, Seadrill chief executive officer, said: “These rigs will add to Seadrill's strong market share in the Middle East, leading to significant economies of scale by clustering rigs of similar design in a market segment where we see strong signs of recovery and long-term demand."

The Oslo Stock Exchange has admitted the shares of Seadrill Limited to trading.

Grant Creed, Seadrill's chief financial officer, said: “Listing on the Euronext Expand is an important milestone in Seadrill's ability to continue setting the standard in offshore drilling.”

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Offshore drilling services leader Valaris Limited, the Bermuda exempted company, has sold heavy duty modern jack-ups Valaris 113 and 114 to Ades Saudi Limited for a total of $125 million.

The company said the units are PPL Pacific Class 400 jack-ups, both delivered in 2012.

The rigs have been stacked in the Philippines since they completed their last contracts in late 2015.

Anton Dibowitz, president and chief executive officer, said the rigs were sold “at values which are highly accretive to our shareholders.

“Each rig had been stacked for more than six years and would have required meaningful capital to reactivate.

“We will continue to take a rational approach to fleet management, including regularly assessing our fleet for retirement and divestiture candidates.”

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Bermudian-based Nordic American Tankers Ltd, the oil tanker company, is to receive an addition to its fleet from Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.

The new Suezmax will be delivered May 13, and will commence on a time charter contract for six years to a first class company in the Sultanate of Oman, the company said.

NAT said the contract will secure stable cashflow and provide return on capital.

The vessel is 157,000 deadweight tonnes and has a carrying capacity of about one million barrels of cargo.

NAT said its Suezmax tanker fleet remains busy.

In early April, NAT fixed a ship over 12 days at $65,800 a day.

In mid-month, the company fixed a ship at $60,000 for 38 days.

At the same time, NAT said, a contract was achieved for 22 days at $60,000.

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Golden Ocean Group Limited, the leading international bulk shipping company based in Bermuda, announced that Tor Svelland has resigned as a director of the company.

Mr Svelland had served as a director since August 2020.