Stena Drilling’s ultra-deepwater drillship Stena DrillMAX is heading to Namibia for an offshore drilling campaign associated with Shell’s PEL 39 exploration programme in the Orange Basin.
According to Namibia Oil and Gas, the drillship departed Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on 6 October 2026, bound for Namibia. The specific well to be drilled and the expected start date have not been publicly confirmed.
Shell operates PEL 39 with a 45% participating interest, alongside QatarEnergy, which holds 45%, and Namibia’s national oil company NAMCOR, with 10%.
The reported mobilisation follows Shell’s latest exploration results from the licence, where the Merlin-1X well was drilled earlier this year. The company announced on 9 June 2026 that the well, spudded on 8 April, had encountered light oil and limited associated gas in a reservoir with favourable geological characteristics.
Merlin-1X was the tenth well drilled in PEL 39. In its official exploration update, Shell reported that the well had delivered its strongest subsurface results to date within the licence.
The company also indicated that further exploration and appraisal drilling could take place later in 2026 as it continued to assess the area’s commercial potential. However, Shell has not publicly identified the well planned for Stena DrillMAX or confirmed whether the drillship’s assignment will directly follow up the Merlin-1X results.
PEL 39 covers approximately 12,000 km² offshore Namibia. Shell and its partners have conducted exploration and appraisal drilling across the licence, including earlier work involving the semi-submersible rig Deepsea Mira. The rig’s subsequent Caribbean assignment was covered in an HMT News report on its new Shell contract.
According to Stena Drilling‘s published specifications, Stena DrillMAX is a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater drillship built by Samsung Heavy Industries and delivered in 2008. The vessel is equipped with a DP3 dynamic positioning system and is capable of operating in water depths of up to 10,000 ft, with a maximum drilling depth of 35,000 ft.
Further operational details of the reported Namibia drilling campaign, including the well location and drilling schedule, remain unconfirmed.
