Andy McKeran

Following the partnership formed by GE and Noble Corporation plc, the two companies have launched what they say is the world’s first digital drilling vessel.

From fathoms, sails and knots, our modern maritime language still bears the fingerprints of past ages when sea captains relied on “dipseys” to measure off the depth of water in six-foot units called fathoms, wind to move and “log lines” with knots tied at specific intervals to determine speed.