Noble Corporation has agreed to sell its sixth-generation drillship Noble Globetrotter II to an undisclosed buyer for $38 million, with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 and the vessel confirmed as exiting the global marketed drilling fleet on completion.
The sale was disclosed in Noble’s third-quarter 2026 earnings report published today, 27 October 2026, alongside a separate announcement that the Noble Globetrotter I the sister ship to the Globetrotter II has been awarded a three-year capacity reservation agreement with TotalEnergies for light well intervention services, with the first scope of work scheduled to commence in Angola in the third or fourth quarter of 2027.
CEO Robert Eifler confirmed on the earnings call that the Globetrotter II will not remain in the drilling fleet following the sale. The vessel has not been commercially active in recent years. The proceeds, while modest relative to the value of Noble’s active drillship fleet, allow the company to recycle capital and simplify its operational footprint. The Globetrotter II sale follows the $45 million Noble Resolve sale, which completed on 9 October 2026.
The two Globetrotter vessels have had different fates. The Globetrotter I has found a niche in the light well intervention market, where Noble is pursuing a dedicated strategy positioning the asset as an intervention specialist rather than a conventional driller. Eifler noted the cost structure of operating the Globetrotter I in intervention mode is approximately 50 percent of a tier one drillship when idle and around 60 percent when active, making it competitive for the intervention market where operators do not need full drilling capability.
Noble’s Q3 2026 results showed contract drilling revenue of $684 million against $679 million in the prior quarter, with utilisation of its 28 marketed rigs at 70 percent compared with 67 percent in Q2. Net income deteriorated to a $117 million loss in the third quarter against a $37 million loss in Q2, with Adjusted EBITDA declining to $201 million from $212 million. Free cash flow was negative $48 million, with capital expenditure of $192 million against $144 million of operating cash flow.
The company’s balance sheet as of 30 September 2026 showed total debt of $1.9 billion and cash of $337 million. Noble’s board approved an interim dividend of $0.50 per share for Q4 2026, payable on 17 December to shareholders of record on 25 November.
Noble has been actively rationalising its fleet through 2026, having sold six jackup rigs to Borr Drilling and Ocean Oilfield Drilling earlier in the year for combined proceeds of $424 million. The Globetrotter II sale is the latest step in a strategy to concentrate the company’s capital and operational focus on its highest-specification ultra-deepwater drillships and its expanding Norwegian Continental Shelf presence, where the Transocean Norge has been working for Harbour Energy and Equinor on a series of programmes through 2026.
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