The Falcon heavy-lift vessel carrying the jack-up rig Randolph Yost left Kachemak Bay on Monday afternoon, Oct. 25. The rig formerly owned by Shelf Drilling is being moved to its new owner in India, according to an email from Shelf Drilling earlier this month.
The Randolph Yost was brought up in 2016 to drill by Furie Operating Alaska in the Kitchen Lights prospect for five years as part of oil and gas exploratory efforts in upper Cook Inlet. John Hendrix, a Homer-raised entrepreneur, bought Furie Operating Alaska in a bankrupt sale last July, but didn’t purchase the Randolph Yost contract.
The Randolph Yost had been docked for more than a year at the OSK Dock near Nikiski, said Steve Catalano, director of operations for the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council. The jack-up rig was towed to Kachemak Bay on Oct. 3 where it was floated onto the 653-foot Falcon, a float-on, float-off heavy lift vessel that can take on ballast to lower its deck below heavy vessels like the Randolph Yost.