April 15, 2006

GCI announces completion of system upgrade for Hercules Offshore, Inc.

GCI has installed and commissioned a Digital SCR and Generator Controls Upgrade on location for Hercules Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, USA. The upgrade was made on a legacy International Switchboard Corporation (ISC) Type I control system.  The existing controls as well as the SCR Bridges were replaced with a complete ABB DCS 500 2000 Amp unit resulting in a significantly reduced footprint in each SCR Bay.  The additional space garnered with this replacement was utilized to replace the original ITE circuit breakers with current generation 2000 Amp Frame General Electric (GE) Power Break II circuit breakers. Additionally, the existing analog Engine-Generator controls were replaced with digital GE Engine Generator Regulator (EGR) control modules.  These units contain all required control functions, associated fault detection and annunciation in a single unit.

GCI's ability to install and commission the SCR and Generator controls on location rather than having the rig moved into port or a shipyard was a primary consideration in the vendor selection process. “Our ability to perform the upgrade without bringing the rig into port coupled with the rig’s constrained maintenance availability were the two primary reasons GCI was selected by Hercules for this upgrade.” commented Pat Edgar, President of GCI.