Dr Sarath Obeysekera

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), supported by energy and marine consultancy ABL, has completed the relocation of 44 jack-up rigs ahead of the monsoon season.
The pre-monsoon rig moves were carried out between March 15 and May 31, with the rigs travelling a combined distance of more than 5,500 nautical miles before the onset of seasonal adverse weather conditions.
ABL, part of Oslo-listed consultancy group Aqualis, also supported an additional 75 rig moves within ONGC’s offshore fields on India’s west coast between September 2025 and May 2026, acting as tow master and marine warranty surveyor throughout the campaign.

Were those rigs moved for lay up
Any brought to Trincomalee ?

The movement of the 44 jack-up rigs was not primarily for lay-up.

Every year, before the southwest monsoon, offshore drilling contractors working for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) reposition jack-up rigs from exposed drilling locations to safer designated locations. This is a routine seasonal marine operation known as a pre-monsoon rig move. Once the monsoon ends, many of these rigs are moved back to drilling locations or to their next contracts.  

The reasons include:

• Avoiding severe monsoon weather.
• Moving between drilling campaigns.
• Going to shipyards or anchorages for inspection and maintenance.
• Positioning for the next drilling programme.

These are operational relocations, not necessarily long-term lay-up.

Were any brought to Trincomalee?

As of now, there is no public evidence that any of these 44 ONGC rigs were towed to Trincomalee as part of this pre-monsoon campaign.  

However, Trincomalee has hosted offshore rigs before. Its deep, sheltered natural harbour is well suited for:

• Temporary anchorage,
• Repairs and maintenance,
• Crew changes,
• Heavy logistics,
• Waiting between contracts.

For example, the semi-submersible rig Olinda Star was handled at Trincomalee anchorage several years ago, and maritime companies are actively promoting Trincomalee as a regional offshore support hub.  

Given your long-standing interest in developing Trincomalee as an offshore industrial hub, this is an important point: there is a genuine opportunity for Sri Lanka to attract idle or between-contract drilling rigs by providing:

• Rig repair and dry-docking services,
• Steel fabrication,
• Marine engineering,
• Supply base operations,
• Crew logistics,
• Waste management,
• Bunkering and fuel services.

These are high-value maritime services that could complement the planned development of the Trincomalee oil tank farm and the port as an energy hub.  

In fact, Trincomalee could aspire to become for the Bay of Bengal what places like Singapore or Batam are for Southeast Asia—an offshore support and maintenance centre serving rigs operating in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and potentially Sri Lanka’s own offshore fields.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera