The Kulluk drillship ran aground in heavy seas on Dec. 31 near Kodiak Island.

FORBES: Shell Ships Alaska Drilling Rigs To Asia For Repairs

"Premium assets bring premium results, " says Rose, who early in his career managed Global Marine's first custom-built drillship, the Glomar II.

FORBES: GLOBAL MARINE The Water Is 12,000 Feet Deep

There were delays when the Discoverer drillship dragged anchor in Dutch Harbor.

FORBES: After Mishaps, Shell Dials Back Arctic Oil-Drilling Plans

The company has exercised options to add three additional high specification jackup rigs to its construction backlog and a fourth ultra-deepwater drillship, Williams said.

FORBES: Noble Reveals High Demand For Deepwater Drilling Despite Oil Price Decline

With a fleet of 140 rigs (including newbuilds), Transocean already owns 18% of the global drilling fleet, including 35% of the drillship fleet and 25% of the semisubmersible fleet.

FORBES: Luckily For Transocean, High Oil Prices Forgive Many Mistakes

While drilling in that depth of water was prohibitively expensive a decade ago, it's now easy for a company Triton's size to rent a drillship to find the oil and set up a floating production platform to process it.

FORBES: One Tamed Wildcat