According to The Maritime Executive, ConocoPhillips and the design and engineering firm Keppel Offshore and Marine Technology Centre are jointly designing a first-of-its-kind ice-capable jack-up oil rig intended to optimize the limited drilling windows available to offshore Arctic drilling endeavors.

The new jack-up rig will be designed with dual cantilevers, and be capable of 14 days of self-sustained operation. It will feature a hull designed to resist impacts from multi-year ice floes and ridges, designed to withstand "a certain level" of ice thickness, and to be towed through ice.

The design project is expected to be complete by the end of 2013.

Keppel Offshore and Marine has designed Arctic environment equipment before, delivering three rigs for work in the North Sea, and its wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel Singmarine recently delivered the first pair of icebreakers built in the tropics.

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