French oil major Total has hired an idled AP Moller-Maersk drillship for a programme off Uruguay.

The Danish shipping giant’s Maersk Drilling said the contract for the 60,700-gt Maersk Venturer (built 2014) is worth $44m, not including mobilisation costs.

That translates to a rate of $367,000 per day.

“With this contract, we continue to build our contract backlog and secure work for our rigs and people, which is very encouraging in this challenging market,” said Maersk Drilling chief executive Claus Hemmingsen.

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