DK1 rig has a landmark of Vietnam sovereignty

With the will to protect the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the country, Vietsovpetro's officials and employees never forget the days of building the first DK1 rigs on Tu Chinh underground yard in Vietnam continental shelf.

From 1981 to 1988, Vietsovpetro, a joint venture with Russian Federation (former Soviet Union) for offshore oil and gas exploration in Vietnam, has built many large-scale oil and gas rigs outside Bach Ho field such as the MSP1, BK2, MSP 3, 4, 5, 6, CPP2 rigs ...Vietsovpetro is the first Southern enterprise to have the technical infrastructure to build large offshore oil rigs ​​to a depth of 100m of water.

In order to shorten the construction time at sea, the entire housing block was completed onshore.

Housing block is hoisted on a frame.

DK1/2 oil rig (Ba Ria – Vung Tau).

In February 1989, Vietsovpetro established DK1 Project Board, consisting of members of the executive apparatus and affiliated enterprises, located next to oil and gas blocks 133-136 and 155-158 in Tu Chinh - Vung May Basin area, about 230 nautical miles southeast of Vung Tau. Tu Chinh underground reef area has a very important position in building and developing the marine economy as well as managing the sovereignty of Vietnam's territorial waters. The range of the reef is from a depth of 14-200m, about 50km long, the widest place is about 13km, the crescent shape grows long in the Northeast - Southwest direction. The surrounding areas have very deep water levels of about 500-1,500m.

With experience in designing and installing oil and gas rigs in Bach Ho field at a depth of 50m, Vietsovpetro has undertaken to build the first two DK1 rigs on Tu Chinh underground reef area, that was Tu Chinh A rig. (Tu Chinh 1 also known as DK1 / 1) and Tu Chinh B rig (Tu Chinh 2, also known as DK1 / 2). The urgent requirement that DK1/1 and DK1/2 rigs in Tu Chinh should be completed in 1989, together with 2 rigs DK1/3 and DK1/4 constructed by the Ministry of Transport on Phuc Tan and Ba Ke shoals.

At 10 o'clock on June 15^th 1989, the delegation of Vietsovpetro's DK1 rigs construction started including 3 ships NPK-547, Sao Mai 01 and Phu Quy tugboat, ship commanders, design and survey commanders constructed with 55 crew members of three ships and a crew of construction workers. DK1 gantry house with 435m high steel cylinders made available onshore, assembled into 3 blocks on NPK deck.

After 3 days and nights of positioning, drilling into the bottom of coral reefs, taking foundation soil samples, laying down the base block, installing D326 steel piles through 4 steel pillars to the depth of submersion in coral rocks from -10 to -12m, the connecting frame and housing block were installed. 15 hours and 45 minutes on June 17th 1989, the red flag with large size of 2.5x3.75 m flew high on the top of the DK1 / 1 platform in the sky of Vietnam at Truong Sa, marking a milestone of the sovereignty of the Vietnamese motherland.

Ngo Thuong San