VANTAGE DRILLING INTERNATIONAL - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020  

OR

For the transition period from                    to                    

Commission File Number: 333-212081

Vantage Drilling International

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

(281) 404-4700

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities registered pursuant to 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.     ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.     ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

The aggregate market value of the Ordinary Shares held by non-affiliates on June 30, 2020, was approximately $33,586,000.  The number of the registrant’s Ordinary Shares outstanding as of March 8, 2021 is 13,115,026 shares.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Section 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court   Yes  ☒    No  ☐

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SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These forward-looking statements are included throughout this Annual Report, including under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” When used, statements which are not historical in nature, including those containing words such as “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “budget,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would,” “will,” “future” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements in this Annual Report.

These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the risks and uncertainties described under “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the following:

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Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Any, or a combination of these factors, could materially affect our future financial condition or results of operations and the ultimate accuracy of the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of our future performance, and our actual results and future developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Management cautions against putting undue reliance on forward-looking statements or projecting any future results based on such statements or present or prior earnings levels.

In addition, each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. We may not update these forward-looking statements, even if our situation changes in the future. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in filings we may make with the SEC, which may be obtained by contacting us or the SEC. These filings are also available through our website at www.vantagedrilling.com or through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering and Analysis Retrieval system (“EDGAR”) at www.sec.gov. The contents of our website are not part of this Annual Report.

Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references to the “Company,” “Vantage Drilling International,” “we,” “our” or “us” refer to Vantage Drilling International and its consolidated subsidiaries.  References to “VDI” refer to Vantage Drilling International, a Cayman Islands exempted company and the group parent company.

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

The following terms used in this Annual Report have the following meanings, unless specified elsewhere in this Annual Report:

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PART I

Our Company

Vantage Drilling International is an international offshore drilling company focused on operating a fleet of modern, high specification drilling units. Our principal business is to contract drilling units, related equipment and work crews, primarily on a dayrate basis to drill oil and gas wells for our customers. Through our fleet of drilling units, we are a provider of offshore contract drilling services to major, national and independent oil and gas companies, focused on international markets. Additionally, for drilling units owned by others, we provide construction supervision services for rigs that are under construction, preservation management services for rigs that are stacked and operations and marketing services for operating rigs.

Our Fleet  

Jackups

A jackup rig is a mobile, self-elevating drilling platform equipped with legs that are lowered to the ocean floor until a foundation is established for support, at which point the hull is raised out of the water into position to conduct drilling and workover operations. All of our premium jackup rigs were built at PPL Shipyard in Singapore. The design of our premium jackup rigs is the Baker Marine Pacific Class 375. These units are ultra-premium jackup rigs with independent legs capable of drilling in up to 375 feet of water, a cantilever drilling floor and a total drilling depth capacity of approximately 30,000 feet.

Drillships

Drillships are self-propelled and suited for drilling in remote locations because of their mobility and large load carrying capacity. While both of our drillships are dynamically positioned and designed for drilling in water depths of up to 12,000 feet, with a total vertical drilling depth capacity of up to 40,000 feet, the Platinum Explorer and Tungsten Explorer are currently equipped to drill in 10,000 feet of water. Each drillship’s hull design has a variable deck load in excess of 20,000 tons and measures approximately 781 feet long by 138 feet wide. Both of our drillships were built at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard in South Korea.

The following table sets forth certain information concerning our offshore drilling fleet as of March 11, 2021.

Recent Developments

The Continued Global Spread of COVID-19

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) announced a global health emergency as COVID-19 continued to spread globally beyond its point of origin. In March 2020, WHO classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic based on the rapid increase in exposure globally and the risks posed to the international community. The continued global spread of COVID-19 has caused widespread illness and significant loss of life, leading governments across the world to impose severely stringent limitations on movement and human interaction. Such governmental responses to the pandemic have depressed economic activity worldwide, impacting all industries, but with a significant adverse effect on the oil and gas industry.  The response of governments throughout the world to address the spread of COVID-19, including, among other actions, the imposition of travel bans, quarantines and entry restrictions, has notably impacted our operations, particularly challenging the ability to transport personnel and equipment to and from

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our rigs, and for our customers and their suppliers to be able to seamlessly manage and conduct their respective operations.  See “Note 1. Organization and Recent Events” of the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” for additional information regarding the impact of COVID-19 on our drilling contracts.

The impact of these challenges in 2020 resulted in (i) lower revenue due to terminations of (or amendments to) certain of our drilling contracts and (ii) increased expenses due to higher labor and related costs.  We cannot at this time determine with certainty how long these challenges will persist as well as the long-term impact that such challenges may have on our operations on a go-forward basis; however, the Company has been actively managing and continues to actively manage the business in an attempt to mitigate the impact of these matters on the Company’s operations.  In order to decrease the Company’s overall operating expenses, the Company undertook significant headcount and salary reductions, both onshore and offshore, as well as other cost reduction measures to reflect the lower operating activity.  For more information regarding the impact of these challenges on the status of certain of our contracts, please refer to our Current Report on Form 8-K, which was filed with the SEC on April 6, 2020, as further supplemented by our Current Reports on Form 8-K, which were filed with the SEC on May 12, 2020, June 2, 2020 and July 1, 2020, respectively.  

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread worldwide, and the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operational and financial performance beyond 2020 will depend in large part on future developments, which cannot be predicted with confidence at this time.  Such developments include, but are not limited to, the duration and further spread of COVID-19, including the discovery of any new strains of COVID-19, the development, availability and effectiveness of treatments or vaccines for COVID-19, and the general resuming of widespread economic activity. Therefore, we can give no assurances that the spread of COVID-19 will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations in 2021 and beyond.

Declines in the Demand for Oil and Gas, and the Resulting Oil Price and Market Share Volatility

The collapse in global economic activity resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 caused demand for global oil and gas to significantly decline.  Moreover, members of OPEC and Russia failed to reach an agreement in March 2020 to extend previously agreed upon oil production cuts and make much needed additional oil production cuts. Thereafter, Saudi Arabia announced an immediate significant reduction in its oil export prices and Russia announced that all agreed oil production cuts between Russia and OPEC members would expire on April 1, 2020. The termination of the previous cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Russia had an immediate impact given that it had supported global oil prices in the past.  Saudi Arabia’s subsequent decision to dramatically increase its oil production and engage in a price war with Russia led to a massive oversupply of oil, which resulted in the overwhelming of global oil storage capacities.  

This price and market share war was later reversed with OPEC, Russia and many of the world’s major oil producers reaching a record production cut agreement on April 12, 2020 and extending such agreement on June 6, 2020. However, the confluence of the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting global oil surplus significantly and adversely impacted the oil and gas industry beginning in the second quarter of 2020, causing (i) an unprecedented drop in oil prices, with Brent crude reaching $19.33 per barrel, its lowest price since 1999, and (ii) ensuing reductions of exploration and production company capital and operating budgets.  Though OPEC, Russia and other major oil and gas producing nations agreed to either cut or maintain levels of oil production as was the case in March 2021, the efforts to contain COVID-19 could continue to depress global economic activity in the near-term, and the supply and demand imbalance of oil and gas will likely continue for the foreseeable future.  Notwithstanding the recent recovery in global oil prices since (i) the development and availability of vaccines for COVID-19, (ii) the perception of the reopening of global economies along with (iii) the injection of substantial government monetary and fiscal stimulus, volatility of and uncertainty around global oil prices persist.

It was this volatility and uncertainty in global oil and gas prices that caused oil and gas producers to cancel or delay drilling tenders in 2020, which negatively impacted our reported backlog and could potentially and negatively impact our future backlog.  Further, material payment delays, modifications or cancellations on our underlying contracts (including, but not limited to, delays, modifications or cancellations directly or indirectly attributable to COVID-19) reduced the amount of backlog previously reported (and could further reduce the amount of backlog currently reported) and consequently, could inhibit the conversion of that backlog into revenues.

The potential for oil prices to decline in the future continues to put pressure on oil and gas activity levels, particularly in the deepwater segment. Oil and gas prices are expected to continue to be volatile as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, changes in oil and gas inventories and industry demand, and therefore, the Company cannot predict how long oil and gas prices remain stable or further improve, if at all, or whether they could reverse course and decline. While our management is actively monitoring the foregoing events and its associated financial impact on us, it is uncertain at this time as to the full magnitude that volatile and uncertain oil and gas prices will have on our financial condition and future results of operations.  

The Company has been, and remains focused on mitigating the impact of the foregoing events on its business.  In the second quarter of 2020, we commenced a plan to reduce our costs and preserve our cash.  For example, we (i) reduced the annual compensation payable to our independent members of the Board of Directors by 20% as well as the salaries of our workforce by approximately 15 to 20% depending on the position, and subsequently replaced it with a longer-term 10% reduction to annual compensation payable to our independent members of the Board of Directors as well as the salary of our workforce across the Company beginning on July 1, 2020, (ii) secured material price reductions from certain of our vendors and (iii) initiated significant

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reductions in both our onshore and offshore personnel in June 2020 to reflect the lower levels of operating activity.  We continue to actively seek measures to reduce our operating costs and preserve our cash during these unprecedented times.  See our Current Report on Form 8-K, which was filed with the SEC on July 1, 2020, for further information regarding reductions in the salaries of our executive officers in an attempt to reduce the Company’s operating and corporate costs in light of the global economic challenges and the public health crisis resulting from the spread of COVID-19.

Platinum Explorer Contract Award

On February 3, 2021, VDI received a letter of award from Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC) for a two-year contract with the Platinum Explorer.  The Platinum Explorer is currently performing under an existing three-year contract with ONGC, which is expected to conclude in the second quarter of 2021.  The new contract with ONGC is expected to begin once the existing campaign concludes.  Expected revenues over the new two-year contract term, exclusive of service tax, are approximately $109 million.

Operations and Management Agreement with Seadrill Partners

On February 9, 2021, Vantage Holdings International (“VHI”), a subsidiary of VDI, entered into a Framework Agreement with Seadrill Partners LLC (“Seadrill Partners”) pursuant to which certain subsidiaries of VHI (the “VHI Entities”) entered into and will enter into additional, management and marketing agreements (the “Management and Marketing Agreements”) with certain subsidiaries of Seadrill Partners (the “Seadrill Entities”).  Under the Management and Marketing Agreements, the VHI Entities will provide marketing and operations management services in respect of certain deepwater floaters owned by the Seadrill Entities.  These Management and Marketing Agreements are subject to the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Drilling Contract Arbitration.

On February 22, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the Petrobras Parties’ petition for certiorari in their efforts to seek the reversal of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision to affirm the U.S. District Court – Texas’s judgment confirming the Petrobras Award.   This denial by the U.S. Supreme Court ended the drilling contract arbitration with the Petrobras Parties and all related appeals. See “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies” of the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” for additional details on the Drilling Contract Arbitration.

Purchase and Sale Agreement to Sell the Titanium Explorer

On December 31, 2020, we entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Best Oasis Limited (the “Buyer”) to sell the Titanium Explorer (the “Purchase and Sale Agreement”), subject to the closing conditions contained in such agreement, for an aggregate purchase price of $13.8 million and we subsequently classified the rig as held for sale on our Consolidated Balance Sheet.  The transaction contemplated by the Purchase and Sale Agreement closed on March 10, 2021.  Pursuant to the Purchase and Sale Agreement, the Buyer is required to recycle the rig in an environmentally sound manner.  

Impairment of the Titanium Explorer’s Carrying Value

During the third quarter of 2020, we evaluated our deepwater drilling rigs that had indicators of impairment and determined that the carrying value of our longer-term warm stacked drillship, the Titanium Explorer, was impaired. As a result, we recognized a non-cash loss on impairment of $128.9 million as of September 30, 2020. See “Note 2. Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies” of the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” for additional information regarding the impairment of the Titanium Explorer.   

Restructuring Agreement and the Associated Settlement Agreement

The Company entered into a settlement agreement with VDC on March 4, 2020 to release each other from claims pertaining to certain intercompany receivables and payables as between the Company and its subsidiaries, on the one hand, and VDC and its subsidiaries, on the other.  See “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies” of the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” for additional details on the Restructuring Agreement and the associated settlement agreement.   

Strengths

We believe our primary competitive strengths include the following:

We own and operate a diversified, premium fleet. We have a diversified fleet of seven high-specification drilling units that is capable of providing premium drilling services for both shallow water and deepwater applications. We recognize that shallow water and deepwater business cycles may differ, particularly during an industry recovery, and believe our fleet diversity reduces our reliance on any particular market segment. Our fleet currently includes five jackup rigs and two drillships.

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Our focus on increased efficiency has led to an optimized cost structure. Following the commodity price downturn in 2014, we implemented company-wide cost savings initiatives in an effort to reduce our rig operating expenses and general and administrative expenses through the right-sizing of shore-based teams and centralization of shore-based operational support in Dubai near key areas of operation. Further, we have significantly reduced our rig operating cost through nationalization and regionalization of senior offshore positions and active supply chain management. Additionally, as a result of the prolonged low price environment in 2020 caused by the spread of COVID-19, the resulting decline in global economic activity during the same period and the associated oil price and market share volatility, we began, and continue, to actively seek measures to reduce our operating costs and preserve cash during these challenging times. We believe our optimized cost structure is among the best in the industry and provides us with the flexibility to operate across business cycles and will lead to enhanced profitability in the event of a recovery in the offshore drilling industry.

We are a leading operator with strong client relationships. We believe that our safety and operational performance, experienced and skilled employees, and modern and highly advanced fleet have produced a track record of high-quality client service and operational safety, efficiency and effectiveness. We have received special recognition from several of our clients for superior drilling services based on key operational metrics, including with respect to safe operations, drilling efficiency, low non-productive time and best contractor performance.

We have a proven management team. Our executive team has a strong reputation for sound execution, customer focus and delivering strong financial performance. Our management team has extensive experience in the oilfield services and offshore drilling industries, as well as experience operating in key global offshore development locations, including the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and India, with major international and national oil companies as well as independent exploration and production companies. In addition to the members of the management team, we have highly trained personnel operating and maintaining our rigs. We believe that our team’s significant experience, technical expertise and strong client relationships, as well as the functional depth throughout our organization, enhance our ability to deliver superior drilling services to our clients and effectively operate on a global basis.

Strategy

Our principal business objective is to be the preferred provider of premium offshore drilling rig services to the oil and gas industry. Our operating strategy is designed to enable us to provide high-quality, safe and cost-competitive services through the current business cycle, positioning us to benefit from an expected increase in demand for offshore drilling and to increase our cash flow and profits. Specifically, we expect to achieve our business objectives through the following strategies:

Enhanced focus on safety and operational excellence. With cyclical demand for offshore drilling services, excelling in safety and operational ability is a key factor for success. We intend to continue our focus on minimizing safety incidents, while also continually increasing our operational uptime and efficiency. This dual focus is intended to enable us to develop and maintain long-term customer relationships and maximize the utilization of our fleet while also ensuring the safety of our and our customers’ employees and contractors. We intend to maintain our exemplary safety and operational performance through attentive and engaged leadership, ongoing competency and training programs, appropriate incentive structures at all levels and effective management oversight.

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Efficiently manage costs to adapt to and withstand a range of market conditions. With a cost-competitive fleet, we believe we are well-positioned to operate across business cycles and achieve enhanced profitability in the event of a recovery in the offshore drilling industry. We have assembled and deployed an active fleet that we believe is at the low end of the cost-of-supply curve through right sizing and centralization of shore-based support, nationalization and regionalization of senior offshore positions, and active supply chain management. We believe these efforts to manage costs will enable us to maintain our industry-leading fleet utilization while generating positive operational cash flows in a cyclical dayrate environment.

Maintain high fleet utilization and consistent activity levels to capitalize on customer preferences for active rigs. We enjoy an industry-leading fleet utilization, which serves as a competitive advantage in securing contracts given operators’ strong preference for rigs with consistent activity levels. Consistent activity helps reduce the uncertainty of any associated costs and preparation time for rigs to undertake new contracts. All of our jackup rigs are currently contracted, preparing for contract or being actively marketed with contract commencements expected in 2021. One of our drillships is currently contracted and one drillship is maintained warm-stacked, scheduled to recommence operations in 2021.

Preserve balance sheet and maintain significant liquidity through business cycles. With approximately $154.5 million cash on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2020 (including $12.5 million of restricted cash) and no near-term debt maturities, we continue to focus on preservation of liquidity as the offshore drilling business cycle continues.

Maintain high-quality asset portfolio with diverse footprint by selectively pursuing acquisitions that we believe align with our operational model and are likely to increase cash flow. Our balanced fleet of jackup rigs and drillships allows us to address the dynamic opportunity set in the offshore drilling industry. We believe the quality of our jackup rig and drillship fleets, combined with our experience in shallow and deepwater markets, position us to compete in various market segments and geographies. We maintain a young fleet with an average age of approximately twelve years; accordingly, our high-specification assets enable us to capitalize on the bifurcation in utilization levels between modern and older rigs, and to secure contracts with premium dayrates. Additionally, high-specification modern drilling units generally provide superior and more efficient drilling performance, as well as enhanced and more cost effective logistics. Newer and more modern drilling units are also generally preferred by crews, which makes it easier to hire and retain high-quality operating personnel. As a result, our fleet is well suited to meet the requirements of customers for efficiently drilling complex wells in demanding locations. To maintain our high-quality asset portfolio, we are focused on disciplined investment in, and the growth of, our active drilling fleet to maximize our profitability. Additionally, we have invested in MPD technology for the Tungsten Explorer ultra-deepwater drillship, technology which is currently required by a significant number of the tenders in the market and is becoming increasingly prevalent in the industry, making such drillship highly regarded and sought after by customers. We have the ability to equip this MPD system on our other drillship.

Our Industry

The offshore contract drilling industry provides drilling, workover and well construction services to oil and gas exploration and production companies through the use of mobile offshore drilling units. Offshore drilling rigs are generally marketed on a worldwide basis as rigs can be moved from one region to another. The cost of moving a rig and the availability of rig-moving vessels may cause the supply and demand balance to vary between regions. However, significant variations between regions do not tend to exist long-term because of rig mobility.

The offshore drilling market generally consists of shallow water (<400 ft.), midwater (>400 ft.), deepwater (>4,000 ft.) and ultra-deepwater (>7,500 ft.). The global shallow water market is serviced primarily by jackups.

Our jackup fleet is focused on the “long-legged” (>350 ft.) high specification market. The drillships that we operate are focused primarily on the ultra-deepwater segment, but can also operate efficiently and cost effectively in the midwater and deepwater markets.

Historically, the offshore drilling industry has been very cyclical with periods of high demand, limited rig supply and high dayrates alternating with periods of low demand, excess rig supply and low dayrates. Periods of low demand and excess rig supply intensify the competition in our industry and often result in some rigs becoming idle for long periods of time as is the case today. As is common throughout the oilfield services industry, offshore drilling is largely driven by actual or anticipated changes in oil and gas prices and capital spending by companies exploring for and producing oil and gas. 

Since 2015, in response to both market conditions and excessive levels of idle capacity in recent years, there has been intense downward pressure on operating dayrates as most drilling contractors had preferred to maintain rigs in an active state and customers had generally favored operating rigs over reactivated cold-stacked rigs. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, this downward pressure on pricing was starting to reverse itself as evidenced by opportunities for our services increasing in 2019 and early 2020 and dayrates were showing signs of general improvement. However, beginning in the second quarter of 2020, with the initial arrival, continued spread, and resulting impact of COVID-19, dayrates, rig activity and contract opportunities each declined significantly.

In response to the oversupply of drilling rigs, a number of our competitors began removing older, less efficient rigs from their fleets by either cold stacking the drilling rigs or taking them permanently out of service.  This trend has accelerated since the second

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quarter of 2020. In addition to the expected increase in scrapping (“recycling”), many offshore drillers, including our competitors, with significant levels of debt on their balance sheets have recently completed, are currently pursuing, or may elect to pursue in the near-term, debt restructurings. (see “Risk Factors—We may not be able to compete effectively against the actions taken by our competitors, which could materially and adversely impact our business operations and financial results” in Part I, Item 1A. of this Annual Report). These debt restructurings may result in lower cost structures, and additional pressure and incentive to recycle rigs. As drillers emerge from these debt restructurings, consolidation could potentially occur thereby reducing the number of industry participants and potentially increasing the market share of certain of our competitors.  A combination of recycling, restructuring and consolidation will be necessary for the industry to regain firmer footing. Any industry recovery will also depend significantly on improvements to global macroeconomic conditions, including, but not limited to, the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 (see “Risk Factors—The continued global spread of COVID-19, fears relating to the spread of COVID-19, and associated oil market developments could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations” and “—The ultimate impact and effects of the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time” in Part I, Item 1A. of this Annual Report).  For further information pertaining to our business and trends in our industry, see “Business Outlook” under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”.

Customers

Our customers are primarily large multinational oil and gas companies, government owned oil and gas companies and independent oil and gas producers. Contract termination revenue from the Petrobras Parties accounted for approximately 78% of consolidated revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019.  For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, the following customers accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenue, in the respective periods:

Drilling Contracts

Our drilling contracts are the result of negotiation with our customers, and most contracts are awarded through competitive bidding against other contractors. Drilling contracts generally provide for payment on a dayrate basis, with higher rates while the drilling unit is operating and lower rates for periods of mobilization or when drilling operations are interrupted or restricted by equipment breakdowns, adverse environmental conditions or other conditions beyond our control. Currently all of our drilling contracts are on a dayrate basis. A dayrate drilling contract generally extends over a period of time covering either the drilling of a single well (or group of wells) or covering a stated term. Certain of our contracts with customers may be cancelable at the option of the customer upon payment of an early termination fee. Such payments may not, however, fully compensate us for the loss of the contract. Contracts also customarily provide for either automatic termination or termination at the option of the customer typically without the payment of any termination fee, under various circumstances such as non-performance, in the event of extensive downtime or impaired performance caused by equipment or operational issues, or sustained periods of downtime due to force majeure events or for convenience by the customer. Many of these events are beyond our control. The contract term in some instances may be extended by the client exercising options for the drilling of additional wells or for an additional term. Our contracts also typically include a provision that allows the client to extend the contract to finish drilling a well-in-progress. During periods of depressed market conditions, our clients may seek to renegotiate drilling contracts to reduce their obligations or may seek to repudiate their contracts. Suspension of drilling contracts will result in the reduction in or loss of dayrate for the period of the suspension. To the extent (i) our customers cancel some of our contracts and we are unable to secure new contracts on a timely basis and on substantially similar terms, (ii) our contracts are suspended for an extended period of time or (iii) a number of our contracts are renegotiated, it could adversely affect our consolidated statements of financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

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The following table sets forth certain information concerning the current contract status of our offshore drilling fleet as of March 11, 2021:

Contract Backlog

As of December 31, 2020, our owned fleet had total drilling contract backlog of approximately $94.5 million. We expect that approximately $63.9 million of our total contract backlog as of December 31, 2020 will be performed during 2021, with the remainder performed in subsequent years.

Competition

The contract drilling industry is highly competitive. Demand for contract drilling and related services is influenced by a number of factors, including the current and expected prices of oil and gas and the expenditures of oil and gas companies for exploration and development of oil and gas. In addition, demand for drilling services remains dependent on a variety of political and economic factors beyond our control, including worldwide demand for oil and gas, the ability of OPEC to set and maintain production levels and pricing, the level of production of non-OPEC countries and the policies of various governments regarding exploration and development of their oil and gas reserves.

Drilling contracts are generally awarded on a competitive bid or negotiated basis. Pricing (day rate) is often the primary factor in determining which qualified contractor is awarded a job. Rig availability, capabilities, age and each contractor’s safety performance record and reputation for quality also can be key factors in the determination. Operators also may consider crew experience, rig location and efficiency. We believe that the market for drilling contracts will continue to be highly competitive for the foreseeable future. Certain competitors may have greater financial resources than we do, which may better enable them to withstand periods of low utilization, compete more effectively in a low price environment, build new rigs or acquire existing rigs.

Our competition ranges from large international companies offering a wide range of drilling and other oilfield services to smaller, locally owned companies. Competition for rigs is usually on a global basis, as these rigs are highly mobile and may be moved, although at a cost that is sometimes substantial, from one region to another in response to demand.

Operating Hazards

Our operations are subject to many hazards inherent in the offshore drilling business, including, but not limited to: blowouts, craterings, fires, explosions, equipment failures, loss of well control, loss of hole, damaged or lost equipment and damage or loss from inclement weather or natural disasters.

These hazards could cause personal injury or death, serious damage to or destruction of property and equipment, suspension of drilling operations, or damage to the environment, including damage to producing formations and surrounding areas. Generally, we seek to obtain contractual indemnification from our customers for some of these risks. To the extent not transferred to customers by contract, we seek protection against some of these risks through insurance, including property casualty insurance on our rigs and drilling equipment, protection and indemnity, commercial general liability, which has coverage extension for underground resources and equipment coverage, commercial contract indemnity and commercial umbrella insurance.

There are risks that are outside of our control. Nonetheless, we believe that we are adequately insured for liability and property damage to others with respect to our operations. However, such insurance may not be sufficient to protect us against liability for all consequences of well disasters, extensive fire damage or damage to the environment. For more information regarding the risks related to our insurance policies, see “Risk Factors—Our business involves numerous operating hazards, and our insurance and contractual indemnity rights may not be adequate to cover our losses” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report.

Insurance

We maintain insurance coverage that includes coverage for physical damage, third party liability, employer’s liability, war risk, general liability, vessel pollution and other coverage. However, our insurance is subject to exclusions and limitations and there is no assurance that such coverage will adequately protect us against liability from all potential consequences and damages.

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Our primary marine package provides for hull and machinery coverage for our drilling units up to a scheduled value for each asset, which we believe approximates replacement cost. The maximum coverage for our eight drilling units, including the Titanium Explorer, which is classified as held for sale on our Consolidated Balance Sheet, is $910 million. The policies are subject to certain exclusions, limitations, deductibles and other conditions. Deductibles for physical damage to our jackup rigs and our drillships are $2.5 million and $5.0 million, respectively, per occurrence. Our protection and indemnity policy provides liability coverage limits of $500.0 million per rig. In addition to these policies, we have separate policies providing coverage for onshore general liability, employer’s liability, auto liability and non-owned aircraft liability, with customary coverage, limits and deductibles.

Foreign Regulation

Our operations are conducted in foreign jurisdictions and are subject to, and affected in varying degrees by, governmental laws and regulations in countries in which we operate, including laws, regulations and duties relating to the importation and exportation of and operation of drilling units and other equipment, currency conversions and repatriation, oil and gas exploration and development, environmental protection, taxation of offshore earnings and earnings of expatriate personnel and the use of local employees and suppliers by foreign contractors. Governments in some foreign countries have become increasingly active in regulating and controlling the ownership of concessions and companies holding concessions, the exploration for oil and gas and other aspects of the oil and gas industries in their countries. In some areas of the world, this governmental activity has adversely affected the amount of exploration and development work done by major oil and gas companies and may continue to do so. Furthermore, these regulations have limited the opportunities for international drilling contractors to participate in tenders for contracts or to perform services in certain countries as the governments have strongly favored local service providers. Operations in less developed countries may be subject to legal systems that are not as predictable as those in more developed countries, which can lead to greater uncertainty in legal matters and proceedings.

The shipment of goods, services and technology across international borders subjects us to extensive trade laws and regulations. Our import and export activities are governed by unique customs laws and regulations in each of the countries where we operate. The laws and regulations concerning import and export activity, recordkeeping and reporting, import and export control and economic sanctions are complex and constantly changing. These laws and regulations may be enacted, amended, enforced or interpreted in a manner materially impacting our operations. Governments also may impose economic sanctions against certain countries, persons and other entities that may restrict or prohibit transactions involving such countries, persons and entities. Shipments can be delayed and denied import or export for a variety of reasons, some of which are outside our control and some of which may result from failure to comply with existing legal and regulatory regimes. Shipping delays or denials could cause unscheduled operational downtime.

Governmental and Environmental Regulation

For a discussion of the effects of governmental and environmental regulation on our current operations, see “Risk Factors—Our business is subject to numerous governmental laws and regulations, including those that may impose significant costs and liability on us for environmental and natural resource damages” and “—Public concern and legislative and regulatory initiatives regarding the risks associated with climate change and the environmental and social impacts of fossil fuel extraction and use, and the growing emphasis by investors on investing in companies that are committed to environmental sustainability, could adversely affect our operations, the demand for oil and gas, our reputation and our access to capital and ability to refinance our debt” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report.

Many aspects of our operations are affected by foreign, federal, state and local governmental laws, rules, regulations and policies that may relate directly or indirectly to the contract drilling industry, including those requiring us to control the discharge of oil and other contaminants into the environment or otherwise relating to environmental protection. Moreover, with the recent change in administration of the U.S. government, it is likely that new legislation, regulatory enforcement actions and executive orders, which are specifically aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or prohibiting, delaying or restricting oil development activities in certain jurisdictions, will be proposed and adopted in the near-term (see “Risk Factors—Our business is subject to numerous governmental laws and regulations, including those that may impose significant costs and liability on us for environmental and natural resource damages” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report for further information).

We have historically conducted work in the Gulf of Mexico and may conduct such work in the future. Although we are not currently conducting any operations under the jurisdiction of U.S. environmental and natural resource agencies, similar restrictions and concerns apply in the jurisdictions in which we currently operate. These requirements and concerns may be more or less stringent than those associated with the following U.S. laws.

Heightened environmental concerns have led to greater and more stringent environmental regulations, higher drilling costs, and a more difficult and lengthy well permitting process in many jurisdictions throughout the world. Requirements applicable to our operations include regulations that would require us to obtain and maintain specified permits or governmental approvals, control the discharge of materials into the environment, require removal and cleanup of materials that may harm the environment, or otherwise relate to the protection of the environment. Laws and regulations protecting the environment have become more stringent and may in

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some cases impose strict liability, rendering a person liable for environmental damage without regard to negligence or fault on the part of such person. Some of these laws and regulations may expose us to liability for the conduct of, or conditions caused by, others or for acts which were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time they were performed. The application of these requirements or the adoption of new or more stringent requirements could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Environmental requirements include water quality laws, regulations and policies that prohibit and/or regulate the discharge of pollutants, including petroleum, into the waters. Certain facilities that store or otherwise handle oil are required to prepare and implement Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans and Facility Response Plans relating to the possible discharge of oil to surface waters. Violations of monitoring, reporting, permitting and other requirements can result in the imposition of administrative, civil and criminal penalties. Laws governing air emissions and solid and hazardous waste also apply to our operations.

A variety of initiatives intended to enhance vessel security have been adopted in certain jurisdictions where we operate. For example, these initiatives may require the development of vessel security plans and on-board installation of automatic information systems to enhance vessel-to-vessel and vessel-to-shore communications.

The International Maritime Organization (the “IMO”), a specialized agency of the United Nations, is responsible for developing measures to improve the safety and security of international shipping and to prevent marine pollution from ships. Among the various international conventions negotiated by the IMO is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (“MARPOL”). MARPOL imposes environmental standards on the shipping industry relating to oil spills, management of garbage, the handling and disposal of noxious liquids, harmful substances in packaged forms, sewage and air emissions.

Annex VI to MARPOL (“Annex IV”) sets limits on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from ship exhausts and prohibits deliberate emissions of ozone depleting substances. Annex VI also imposes a global cap on the sulfur content of fuel oil and allows for specialized areas to be established internationally with more stringent controls on sulfur emissions. For vessels 400 gross tons and greater, platforms and drilling units, Annex VI imposes various survey and certification requirements. For this purpose, gross tonnage is based on the International Tonnage Certificate for the vessel. The United States has ratified Annex VI. In addition, any drilling units we operate internationally are subject to the requirements of Annex VI in those countries that have implemented its provisions. We believe the drilling units we currently offer for international projects comply with Annex VI, but changes to our equipment and ratifying countries’ regulatory interpretations of the Annex VI requirements could impose additional costs on us, which could be significant.

Although significant capital expenditures may be required to comply with these governmental laws and regulations, such compliance has not materially adversely affected our earnings or competitive position. We believe that we are currently in compliance in all material respects with the environmental regulations to which we are subject.

We anticipate that we will continue to make expenditures to comply with governmental and environmental requirements. To date, we have not expended material amounts beyond those amounts spent on our basic rig designs in order to comply and we do not believe that our compliance with such requirements will have a material adverse effect upon our results of operations or competitive position or materially increase our capital expenditures.

Human Capital

Employees and Reporting

As of December 31, 2020, we managed a workforce consisting of approximately 670 employees worldwide, of which 320 were our direct employees. We report on a monthly basis to senior management on headcount, recruitment, compensation, competency and attrition. We also report human capital-related data to the Board of Directors on a quarterly or on an as required basis.

Compensation and Benefits

We believe we offer market competitive compensation as well as an attractive benefits package. We are dedicated to hiring and building a strong diverse team offering equal opportunities to realize and develop our team’s full potential.

People Development

We develop and grow our personnel with zero discrimination and strive to add value in the jurisdictions and regions in which we operate. We achieve this by (i) creating local employment, (ii) making commitments to training and development, and (iii) where possible, utilizing local supply chains. Our offshore employees have the opportunity to enhance their competence via our Vantage Competency Assurance Program, which includes state of the art rig simulators located on each rig. This supplements our comprehensive onboarding, induction and on and off-the-job training programs. Our key personnel also complete ethics and bribery training on an annual basis.

Quality, Health, Safety and Environment

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We are committed to conducting our activities in a manner that (i) protects and prioritizes the health and safety of all of our personnel and (ii) minimizes our environmental footprint in the jurisdictions and regions in which we operate.  Our stated vision is to have “A Perfect Day – Every Day,” which includes the paramount objective of having zero incidents in our operations.  For the year ended December 31, 2020, we finished the year with a Lost Time Incident Rate of zero, which is best in class for our sector, and a Total Recordable Incident Rate of 0.1, which was the best in our history. We have focused on, and will continue to emphasize, the following goals and priorities, among others, in order to continue the foregoing trends:

Available Information

Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge through our website at www.vantagedrilling.com as soon as practicable after we electronically file such material with the SEC through EDGAR at www.sec.gov.  Information contained on or accessible from our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report and should not be considered a part of this Annual Report or any other filing that we make with the SEC.  

This Annual Report also contains summaries of the terms of certain agreements that we have entered into that are filed as exhibits to this Annual Report. The descriptions contained in this Annual Report of those agreements do not purport to be complete and are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, the respective definitive agreements. You may request a copy of the agreements described herein at no cost by writing or telephoning us at the following address: Vantage Drilling International, Attention: General Counsel, c/o Vantage Energy Services, Inc., 777 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 800, Houston, Texas 77056, phone number (281) 404-4700. You can also obtain copies of any of the agreements that are filed as exhibits to this Annual Report from the SEC through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

There are numerous factors that affect our business and operating results, many of which are beyond our control. Immediately below is a summary of the principal factors that might cause our future operating results to differ materially from those currently expected. The risk factors summarized below are not the only risks facing us. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in the “Risk Factor Summary,” as well as other risks that may affect our business and operating results, can be found below under the heading “Risk Factors,” and should be carefully considered and evaluated before making an investment decision regarding our business.  Moreover, additional risks and uncertainties not specified herein, not currently known to us or currently deemed to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial position, operating results or cash flows.

Risk Factor Summary:

Risks Related to the Operation of our Business:

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Risks Related to Governmental Regulations and Laws:

Risks Related to our Financial Condition and Taxes:

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Risk Factors:

Risks Related to Operations of our Business

A continued low amount of, or further reduction in, expenditures by oil and gas exploration and production companies due to low levels of oil and gas prices, a decrease in demand for oil and gas, or other factors, could adversely affect our business.

Our business, including the utilization rates and dayrates we achieve for our drilling units, depends on the level of activity in oil and gas exploration, development and production expenditures of our customers. Oil and gas prices and customers’ expectations of potential changes in these prices significantly affect this level of activity. Commodity prices are affected by numerous factors, including the following:

In addition to oil and gas prices, the offshore drilling industry is influenced by additional factors, including:

Any one of these factors could significantly reduce the demand, or prices paid, for our services and materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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Low prices for oil and gas may reduce demand for our services and could have a material adverse effect on our revenue and profitability.

Demand for our services depends on oil and gas industry activity and expenditure levels that are directly affected by trends in oil and gas prices. In addition, demand for our services is particularly sensitive to the level of exploration, development and production activity of and the corresponding capital spending by, oil and gas companies. Any prolonged weakness in oil and gas prices could depress the near-term levels of exploration, development and production activity. Perceptions of longer-term lower oil and gas prices by oil and gas companies could similarly reduce or defer major expenditures given the long-term nature of many large-scale development projects. Lower levels of activity result in a corresponding decline in the demand for our services, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenue and profitability. Additionally, these factors may adversely impact our financial position if they are determined to cause an impairment of our long-lived assets.

Our industry is highly competitive, cyclical and subject to intense price competition.  

Historically, the offshore contract drilling industry has been cyclical and volatile with periods of high demand, limited supply and high dayrates alternating with fluctuating periods of low demand, excess supply and low dayrates. Many offshore drilling units are highly mobile. Competitors may move drilling units from region to region in response to changes in demand. According to Bassoe, there were 41 jackups and 26 deepwater/harsh environment floaters on order at shipyards as of December 2020. It is unclear when these drilling rigs will actually be delivered, if at all, as many rig deliveries have (i) already been deferred to later dates, or (ii) been canceled entirely. Periods of low demand and excess supply intensify competition in our industry and often result in some of our drilling units becoming idle for long periods of time. Prolonged periods of low utilization and dayrates, or extended idle time, could result in the recognition of impairment charges on our drilling units if cash flow estimates, based upon information made available to management at the time, indicate that the carrying value of the drilling units may not be recoverable.  

Public concern and legislative and regulatory initiatives regarding the risks associated with climate change and the environmental and social impacts of fossil fuel extraction and use, and the growing emphasis by investors on investing in companies that are committed to environmental sustainability, could adversely affect our operations, the demand for oil and gas, our reputation and our access to capital and ability to refinance our debt.

Global climate issues, including the emission of greenhouse gases, continue to attract considerable public and scientific attention, and there has been increased focus on the oil and gas industry as a result. Numerous reports, including, the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have caused concern about the adverse impacts of human activity on the world’s climate. The adoption of any legislation or regulation that requires reporting of greenhouse gases, or otherwise restricts emissions of greenhouse gases from our operations, could require us to incur significant costs to reduce such emissions, could adversely affect demand for the oil and gas that we extract or limit our access to financial capital.  

Over the recent years, sovereign wealth, pension and endowment funds have begun to divest fossil fuel equities and pressure lenders to limit funding to companies engaged in the extraction of fossil fuels. These efforts have greatly intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, both in the United States and throughout the world. For example, New York State’s Pension Fund, which had already divested from nearly two dozen thermal coal companies in July 2020, announced in December 2020 that it would seek to divest from fossil fuel stocks by 2025 and sell its shares in other companies that contribute to climate change by 2040. Likewise, in January 2021, two of New York City’s largest pension funds, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System, approved the divestment of approximately $4 billion from fossil fuel companies, and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System is expected to follow suit. Furthermore, Sweden’s state-backed pension funds were recently admonished by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, one of Sweden’s largest climate organizations, for continuing to invest in fossil-fuel companies, and recent proposed changes to the ethical investment guidelines for the Government Pension Fund Global, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, could result in the fund selling approximately €910 million of its holdings.

The initiatives aimed at limiting climate change and reducing air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases, including divestment from the oil and gas industry, could significantly interfere with our operations, business activities, and ability to access the capital markets and refinance our debt. Likewise, successful divestment efforts in the oil and gas industry could materially and adversely impact prices of our debt or equity securities. Given that members of the investment community have begun to heavily factor in, and will likely continue in the near-term to assess, a company’s commitment to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”)-related initiatives and sustainability performance as part of its overall investment strategy and thesis, investors, including large institutional investors, investment advisors and large sovereign wealth, pension and endowment funds, could elect to forego their investment in us to the extent we fail to satisfy such metrics. Such investors may also continue to accelerate their commitment to increasing the overall percentage of their portfolios that are allocated towards companies that have shown significant commitment to ESG-related matters and environmental sustainability. In light of the foregoing, investors may seek to re-allocate portions of their capital away from deepwater projects.  These concerns and the uncertainty around global oil and gas prices may cause deepwater projects to become one of the least attractive areas for investment by our clients given the large capital requirements and the significant amount of time between discovery and production of oil and/or gas. Separately, we could lose existing investors in their

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entirety if we or our securities fail to meet the ESG-related standards and initiatives being sought and prioritized by such investors. Our failure to satisfy such metrics could also harm our overall reputation amongst members of the investment community, our critical counterparties and in the markets more generally.

Furthermore, the increased focus by the investment community on environmental, social and governance-related practices and disclosures, including emission rates and overall impacts to global climate, has created, and will create for the foreseeable future, increased pressure regarding the enhancement of, and modification to, the disclosure and governance practices in our industry. For example, BlackRock, one of the largest asset managers in the world, which previously affirmed its commitment to divest from investments in fossil fuels due to concerns over climate change, recently called for the oil companies and other polluting-generating industries it invests in to disclose their carbons emissions and set clear targets to decrease the amounts of such pollution. As a result, we currently face, and could continue to face, increasing pressure regarding our ESG disclosures and related practices.

Lastly, increased attention regarding the risks of climate change and the emission of greenhouse gases augments the possibility of litigation or investigations being brought by public and private entities against oil and gas companies in connection with their greenhouse emissions. Should we be targeted by any such litigation or investigations, we may incur liability, which, to the extent that political or societal pressures or other factors are involved, could be imposed without regard to the causation of, or contribution to, the asserted damage, or to other mitigating factors.

Our level of indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health and prevent us from fulfilling our debt obligations.

As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $350 million aggregate principal amount of debt outstanding under the 9.25% First Lien Notes. Our level of indebtedness could have significant and adverse effects on our business. For example, our level of indebtedness and the terms of our debt agreements could:

Each of these factors may have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition and viability. Our ability to satisfy our other debt obligations will depend on our future operating performance, which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other factors affecting our company and industry, many of which are beyond our control.

Our drilling contracts are generally short-term in duration, and we could experience reduced profitability if customers reduce activity levels or if we otherwise fail to secure new drilling contracts or extend existing contracts upon their termination.

Many of our drilling contracts are short-term, and oil and gas companies tend to reduce shallow water activity levels quickly in response to downward changes in oil and gas prices. Due to the short-term nature of most of our drilling contracts, a decline in market conditions can quickly and significantly affect our business if customers reduce their levels of operations. We may not be able to secure new contracts for our vessels or extend contracts on favorable terms, if at all, or satisfy any conditions precedent to finalizing any letters of intent or award with respect to our vessels. This could result in one or more of our vessels being idle for an extended period of time, which could adversely affect our profitability, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

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We may not be able to replace expiring or terminated contracts for our existing rigs at dayrates that are economically feasible for us.  

Due to the cyclical nature and high level of competition in our industry, we may not be able to replace expiring or terminated contracts. Our ability to replace expiring or terminated contracts will depend on prevailing market conditions, the specific needs of our customers, and numerous other factors beyond our control. Additionally, any contracts for our drilling units may be at dayrates that are below existing dayrates, which could have a material adverse effect on our overall business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects.  

Our drilling contracts may be terminated early in certain circumstances and our customers may seek to renegotiate the terms of their existing drilling contracts with us.

In certain instances, our customers may have the contractual right to terminate, or may seek to renegotiate, their existing drilling contracts with us if we experience excessive downtime, operational issues above the contractual limit or safety-related issues, if the drilling unit is a total loss, if the drilling unit is not delivered to the customer within the period specified in the contract or in other specified circumstances, which include force majeure events beyond the control of either party.

Some of our current drilling contracts, and some drilling contracts that we may enter into in the future, may include terms allowing customers to terminate contracts without cause, with little or no prior notice and without penalty or early termination payments. In addition, we could be required to pay penalties, which could be material, if some of these contracts are terminated due to downtime, operational issues or failure to deliver. Some of the contracts with customers that we enter into in the future may be cancellable at the option of the customer upon payment of a penalty, which may not fully compensate us for the loss of the contract. Early termination of a contract may result in a drilling unit being idle for an extended period of time. The likelihood that a customer may seek to terminate a contract is increased during periods of market weakness. Under most of our contracts, it is an event of default if we file a petition for bankruptcy or reorganization, which would allow the customer to terminate such contract.

Further, during depressed market conditions, a customer may no longer need a unit that is currently under contract or may be able to obtain a comparable unit at a lower dayrate. As a result, customers may seek to renegotiate the terms of their existing drilling contracts or avoid their obligations under those contracts.  For a discussion of the termination of, or amendment to, certain of our drilling contracts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Risk Factors— The continued global spread of COVID-19, fears relating to the spread of COVID-19, and associated oil market developments could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.”

We may experience downtime as a result of repairs or maintenance, human error, defective or failed equipment, or delays waiting for replacement parts.

Our operations may be suspended because of machinery breakdowns, human error, abnormal operating conditions, failure of subcontractors to perform or supply goods or services, delays on replacement parts or personnel shortages, which may cause us to experience operational downtime and could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We may be required to make substantial capital and operating expenditures to maintain and upgrade our fleet to maintain our competitiveness and to comply with laws and the applicable regulations and standards of governmental authorities and organizations, each of which could negatively affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our business is highly capital intensive and dependent on having sufficient cash flow and or available sources of financing in order to fund capital expenditure requirements. We can provide no assurance that we will have access to adequate or economical sources of capital to fund necessary capital expenditures. Such capital expenditures could increase as a result of changes in, among other things, any of the following:

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Changes in offshore drilling technology, customer requirements for new or upgraded equipment and competition within our industry may require us to make significant capital expenditures in order to maintain our competitiveness. In addition, changes in governmental regulations, safety or other equipment standards, as well as compliance with standards imposed by maritime self-regulatory organizations, may require us to make additional unforeseen capital expenditures. As a result, we may be required to take our rigs out of service for extended periods of time, with corresponding losses of revenues, in order to make such alterations or to add such equipment. In the future, market conditions may not justify these expenditures or enable us to operate our older rigs profitably during the remainder of their economic lives.

In addition, we may require additional capital in the future. If we are unable to fund capital expenditures with our cash flow from operations or sales of non-strategic assets, we may be required to either incur additional borrowings or raise capital through the sale of debt or equity securities. Our ability to access the capital markets may be limited by our financial condition at the time, by certain restrictive covenants under the agreements governing our credit agreement and notes, by changes in laws and regulations or interpretation thereof and by adverse market conditions resulting from, among other things, general economic conditions and contingencies and uncertainties that are beyond our control. If we raise funds by issuing equity securities, existing shareholders may experience dilution. Our failure to obtain the funds for necessary future capital expenditures could have a material adverse effect on our business and on our consolidated statements of financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The market value of our current vessels may decrease, which could cause us to take accounting charges or incur losses if we decide to sell them following a decline in their values.

If the offshore contract drilling industry continues to suffer adverse developments, the fair market values of our vessels may decline. The fair market values of the vessels we currently own or may acquire in the future may increase or decrease depending on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including the general economic and market conditions affecting the oil and gas industry and the possible corresponding adverse effect on the level of offshore drilling activity.

Any such deterioration in the market values of our vessels could require us to record an impairment charge in our financial statements, which could adversely affect our results of operations. If we sell any of our vessels when prices for such vessels have fallen, the sale may be at less than such drillship’s carrying amount on our financial statements, resulting in a loss.

We may not be able to compete effectively against the actions taken by our competitors, which could materially and adversely impact our business operations and financial results.

Our competitors have engaged, and may continue to engage, in the process of restructuring their respective balance sheets and, in the process, reducing their overall cost structure.  In addition, it is anticipated that some of these competitors may enter into strategic transactions, including mergers, which could provide further cost savings and efficiencies through synergies, the recycling of assets and other means.  It is possible that such competitors could emerge stronger financially as a result of such transactions and therefore, be better positioned to secure valuable drilling contracts at lower rates.  The emergence of stronger competitors in an already challenging financial environment could adversely affect our ability to secure critical drilling contracts and thereby adversely affect our business operations and financial condition.

New technology and/or products may cause us to become less competitive, and higher levels of capital expenditures may be necessary in order to remain competitive.

The offshore contract drilling industry is subject to the introduction of new drilling techniques and services using new technologies, some of which may be subject to patent protection. As competitors and others use or develop new technologies, we may be placed at a competitive disadvantage. Further, we may face competitive pressure to implement or acquire certain new technologies at a substantial cost. Some of our competitors have greater financial, technical and personnel resources that may enable them to more readily access technological advantages and implement new technologies before we can. We cannot be certain that we will be able to implement new technology or products on a timely basis or at an acceptable cost. Thus, our inability to effectively use and implement new and emerging technology may have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our business involves numerous operating hazards and is subject to severe weather events, and our insurance and contractual indemnity rights may not be adequate to cover our losses resulting from such hazards and events.

Our operations are subject to the usual hazards inherent in the drilling and operation of oil and gas wells, such as blowouts, reservoir damage, loss of production, loss of well control, punch-throughs, craterings, fires and pollution. The occurrence of any one of these events could result in the suspension of drilling or production operations, claims by the operator and others affected by such events, severe damage to, or destruction of, the property and equipment involved, injury or death to drilling unit personnel, environmental damage and increased insurance costs. We may also be subject to personal injury lawsuits and other claims of drilling unit personnel as a result of our drilling operations. Operations also may be suspended because of machinery breakdowns, abnormal operating conditions, failure of subcontractors to perform or supply goods or services and personnel shortages.

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In addition, our operations are subject to risks inherent in and endemic to marine operations, including capsizing, grounding, collision and loss or damage from severe weather. Severe weather could have a material adverse effect on our operations. Our drilling units could be damaged by high winds, turbulent seas or unstable sea bottom conditions which could potentially cause us to curtail operations for significant periods of time until such damages are repaired.

Damage to the environment could result from our operations, particularly through oil spillage or extensive uncontrolled fires. We may also be subject to property, environmental and other damage claims by host governments, oil and gas companies and other businesses operating offshore and in coastal areas, as well as claims by individuals living in or around coastal areas.

As is customary in our industry, the risks of our operations are partially covered by our insurance and partially by contractual indemnities from our customers. However, insurance policies and contractual rights to indemnify us may not adequately cover losses, and we may not have insurance coverage or rights to indemnify us for all such risks (see “Risks Factors – Customers may be unable or unwilling to indemnify us”). Moreover, pollution and environmental risks generally are not fully insurable. If a significant accident or other event resulting in damage to our drilling units, including severe weather, terrorist acts, war, civil disturbances, pollution or environmental damage, occurs and is not fully covered by insurance or a recoverable indemnity from a customer, it could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The international nature of our operations creates additional political, economic, legal and other uncertainties not generally associated with domestic operations.

Our business strategy is to operate in international oil and gas producing areas. Our international operations are subject to a number of risks inherent in any business operating in foreign jurisdictions, including:

Our financial condition and results of operations could be susceptible to adverse events beyond our control that may occur in the particular jurisdictions in which we operate our business. Additionally, we may experience currency exchange losses where, at some future date, revenues are received and expenses are paid in nonconvertible currencies or where we do not hedge exposure to a foreign currency. We may also incur losses as a result of an inability to collect revenues because of a shortage of convertible currency available in the country of operation, controls over currency exchange or controls over the repatriation of income or capital.

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Many governments favor or effectively require that drilling contracts be awarded to local contractors or require foreign contractors to employ citizens of, or purchase supplies from, a particular jurisdiction. These practices may result in inefficiencies or put us at a disadvantage when bidding for contracts against local competitors.

Our offshore contract drilling operations are subject to various laws and regulations in countries in which we operate, including laws and regulations relating to the equipment and operation of drilling units, currency conversions and repatriation, oil and gas exploration and development, taxation of offshore earnings and earnings of expatriate personnel, the use of local employees and suppliers by foreign contractors and duties on the importation and exportation of drilling units and other equipment. Governments in some foreign countries have become increasingly active in regulating and controlling the ownership of concessions and companies holding concessions, the exploration for oil and gas and other aspects of the oil and gas industries in their countries. In some areas of the world, this governmental activity has adversely affected the amount of exploration and development work done by major oil and gas companies and may continue to do so. Operations in less developed countries can be subject to legal systems which are not as predictable as those in more developed countries, which can lead to greater uncertainty in legal matters and proceedings.

The continued global spread of COVID-19, fears relating to the spread of COVID-19, and associated oil market developments could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

On January 30, 2020, WHO announced a global health emergency as COVID-19, continued to spread globally beyond its point of origin. In March 2020, WHO classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic based on the rapid increase in exposure globally and the risks posed to the international community. During this time, the market experienced a rapid decline in oil prices in response to oil demand concerns due to the economic impacts of COVID-19 and anticipated increases in supply from Russia and OPEC, particularly Saudi Arabia. These actions led to (i) significant weaknesses in oil prices and (ii) ensuing reductions of oil and gas company capital and operating budgets. It is not possible at this time to predict the ultimate effect of the continued spread, or fear of continued spread, of COVID-19 globally on our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely impacted.

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has generally affected our customers, suppliers, vendors, and other business partners. If our customers or suppliers experience material and adverse business consequences due to the spread of COVID-19, demand for our services could also be adversely affected, and existing counterparties could seek to invoke “force majeure” clauses under their contracts with us and/or terminate such contracts. For example, as of the date of this Annual Report, and as a result of these challenges: (a) one of our customers invoked the “force majeure” clause under its drilling contract with us and subsequently terminated the drilling contract in accordance with its terms, and there is the potential for others to similarly exercise “force majeure” clauses under their respective drilling contracts; (b) two other customers terminated their drilling contracts prior to the end of their respective terms (both contracts were to expire in the normal course in the second quarter of 2020); (c) in December 2020, a customer terminated its drilling contract prior to the commencement of operations; (d) we reached an agreement in April 2020 to place one rig on a stand-by rate for the majority of the second quarter of 2020 (such “force majeure” rates or stand-by rates received by the Company are generally less than the original day rates otherwise payable to the Company); however, this rig returned to operations in July 2020; (e) we reached agreements with two other clients to delay the start dates of their new drilling programs and we continue to be in discussions with another customer regarding our operations and their existing drilling contract and program; (f) we experienced, and could continue to experience, delays in the collection of certain accounts receivables due to logistical obstacles, such as office closures resulting from further the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as other impacts to our long-term liquidity; and (g) we incurred additional labor costs and could continue to incur additional labor costs in the future as a result of our efforts to keep our personnel safe, quarantine requirements, closures and movement restrictions in certain jurisdictions in which we operate, as well as the home countries in which certain of our offshore crews are located, which in many cases have impeded, and could continue to impede for the foreseeable future, the regular transportation of crews to their home countries and result in the payment of compensation to stranded crews working longer than their routine rotation schedule (in addition to the use of charter flights in the absence of commercial flights).

The impact of these challenges in 2020 resulted in (i) lower revenue due to terminations of (or amendments to) certain of our drilling contracts and (ii) increased expenses due to higher labor and related costs.  We cannot at this time determine with certainty how long these challenges will persist as well as the long-term impact that such challenges may have on our operations on a go-forward basis; however, the Company has been actively managing and continues to actively manage the business in an attempt to mitigate the impact of the foregoing events.  In the case of additional expenses incurred as a result of the foregoing matters, the Company undertook significant cost-saving measures, including reductions in salaries and workforce, both onshore and offshore, to reflect the lower operating activity.  The extent to which COVID-19 will continue to impact the counterparties in which we engage in business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.

The ultimate impact and effects of the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.

There remains continued and significant uncertainty relating to the impact of COVID-19, which is predicated on future developments that cannot be determined or predicted with certainty at this time, including, but not limited to, the occurrence and

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continuity of a ‘second wave’ in the markets in which we, our customers and suppliers operate. Throughout 2020, we observed deterioration in macroeconomic conditions, oil price and market volatility, and reductions and delays in oil and gas exploration and development plans by operators as a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  We determined these events constituted “triggering events” requiring an assessment for impairment.  We recorded a loss on impairment of $128.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread worldwide, and the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operational and financial performance will depend in large part on future developments, which cannot be predicted with confidence at this time. Such developments include, but are not limited to, the duration and further spread of COVID-19, including the discovery of any new strains of COVID-19, the development, availability and effectiveness of treatments or vaccines for COVID-19, and the general resuming of widespread economic activity. Therefore, we can give no assurances that the spread of COVID-19 will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations in 2021 and beyond.

We are continuously monitoring our own operations and have taken, and intend to continue to take, appropriate actions to mitigate the risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic to the best of our abilities. Nevertheless, there can be no assurances that we will be successful in doing so. The ultimate magnitude and effect of the continued spread of COVID-19 globally, and the resulting social, economic and labor instability attributable to COVID-19, cannot be predicted or estimated at this time.

The ability of our offshore and onshore employees to work and conduct our business has been, and may continue to be, significantly impacted by COVID-19.

Like the global economy at large, both our offshore and onshore employees are being significantly impacted by the spread of COVID-19. Our operations in all of the jurisdictions in which we operate have been impacted by varying levels of government responses to the spread of COVID-19, including government-enforced quarantines, “stay-at-home” orders and restrictions on travel. The impact of such governmental actions have been particularly felt by our personnel working offshore on our rigs. In some cases, our offshore personnel have had to remain onboard the rig on which they serve beyond the usual length of time due to general restrictions on transporting persons onto (and off of) the rig and other offshore personnel have not been able to travel to the applicable offshore locations at all.  Even if our offshore personnel are able to successfully travel to the countries where we operate, they may nevertheless be required to self-quarantine for a minimum number of days before continuing on toward the rig. Furthermore, other of our offshore personnel may be able to depart the rig, but are then required to remain in the same country for an extended period of time until (i) the government-imposed quarantine expires, (ii) the country from which they are traveling permits departure and/or (iii) the country to which they intend to travel permits entry. In addition, our office and management personnel are working remotely and are subject to varying governmental restrictions depending on the level of actions taken by governments of countries in which such onshore personnel are located.  As the health of our workforce is paramount, we have implemented, and will continue to implement for the foreseeable future, precautionary measures to help minimize the risk of our employees being potentially exposed to, or contracting, COVID-19. Our management team has been, and remains, focused on mitigating the adverse effects of the spread of COVID-19, which has required, and will continue to require, a significant investment of time and resources across the entire Company, thereby diverting time, energy and resources from other priorities that existed prior to the spread of COVID-19. If these conditions exacerbate, or last for an extended period of time, our ability to manage our business may be negatively impacted, and preexisting operational and other business risks that we (and our industry) face may be heightened, including, but not limited to, cybersecurity risks.  For a discussion regarding cybersecurity risks to our business, see “Risk Factors - Our information technology systems and those of our service providers are subject to cybersecurity risks and threats.”

Public health threats could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Public health threats, including, but not limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola, the H1N1 flu virus, the Zika virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and other highly communicable diseases, outbreaks of which have occurred fairly recently in various parts of the world in which we operate, could adversely impact our operations, the operations of our clients and the global economy, including the worldwide demand for oil and gas and the level of demand for our services. Any quarantine of personnel or the inability to access our offices or rigs could adversely affect our operations. Travel restrictions or operational problems in any part of the world in which we operate, or any reduction in the demand for drilling services caused by public health threats in the future, may adversely affect our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

A small number of customers account for a significant portion of our revenues, and the loss of one or more of these customers could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. The concentration of revenue with a small number of customers also exposes us to credit risk of these customers for non-payment or contract termination.

We derive a significant portion of our revenues from a few customers. Five customers accounted for approximately 78% of our revenue during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Our financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected if any one of these customers interrupts or curtails their activities, fails to pay for the services that have been performed, terminates their contracts, fails to renew their existing contracts or refuses to award new contracts and we are unable to

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enter into contracts with new customers on comparable terms. The loss of any of our significant customers could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Operating and maintenance costs will not necessarily fluctuate in proportion to changes in operating revenues.

We cannot predict what operating and maintenance costs will fluctuate in proportion to changes in operating revenues. Operating revenues may fluctuate as a function of changes in dayrates. However, costs for operating a drilling unit are generally fixed or only semi-variable regardless of the dayrate being earned. In addition, should the drilling units incur idle time between contracts, we would typically maintain the crew to prepare the drilling unit for its next contract and may not be able to reduce costs to correspond to the decrease in revenue. During times of moderate activity, reductions in costs may not be immediate as the crew may be required to prepare the drilling units for stacking, after which time the crew will be reduced to a level necessary to maintain the drilling unit in working condition with the extra crew members assigned to active drilling units or dismissed. In addition, as drilling units are mobilized from one geographic location to another, the labor and other operating and maintenance costs can vary significantly. Equipment maintenance expenses fluctuate depending upon the type of activity the drilling unit is performing and the age and condition of the equipment. Contract preparation expenses vary based on the scope and length of contract preparation required and the duration of the firm contractual period over which such expenditures are amortized.

Our insurance coverage may not be adequate if a catastrophic event occurs.

As a result of the number and significance of catastrophic events in the history of the offshore drilling industry, insurance underwriters have increased insurance premiums and increased restrictions on coverage and have made other coverages unavailable to us on commercially reasonable terms. During the recent industry downturn, in addition to paying lower day rates, many oil and gas companies  have negotiated less favorable terms with respect to risk allocation and indemnity rights in the drilling service contracts to which we are or may become a party.

While we believe we have reasonable policy limits of property, casualty and liability insurance, including coverage for acts of terrorism, with financially sound insurers, we cannot guarantee that our policy limits for property, casualty, liability and business interruption insurance, including coverage for severe weather, terrorist acts, war, civil disturbances, pollution or environmental damage, would be adequate should a catastrophic event occur related to our property, plant or equipment, or that our insurers would have adequate financial resources to sufficiently or fully pay related claims or damages. When any of our coverage expires, or when we seek coverage in the future, we cannot guarantee that adequate coverage will be available, offered at reasonable prices, or offered by insurers with sufficient financial soundness. Additionally, we do not have third party windstorm insurance and we may not have windstorm insurance for any vessel that we operate in the Gulf of Mexico in the future. The occurrence of an incident or incidents affecting any one or more of our drilling units could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and future results of operations if asset damage and/or our liability were to exceed insurance coverage limits or if an insurer was unable to sufficiently or fully pay related claims or damages.

We may suffer losses as a result of foreign currency fluctuations.

A significant portion of the contract revenues of our foreign operations will be paid in USD; however, some payments are made in foreign currencies. As a result, we are exposed to currency fluctuations and exchange rate risks as a result of our foreign operations. To minimize the financial impact of these risks when we are paid in non-U.S. currency, we attempt to match the currency of operating costs with the currency of contract revenue. If we are unable to substantially match the timing and amounts of these payments, any increase in the value of USD in relation to the value of applicable foreign currencies could adversely affect our operating results.

We are subject to litigation and other disputes that could have a material and adverse effect on our business operations and financial condition.

We are, from time to time, involved in litigation and disputes that could negatively affect our business operations and financial condition. These matters may include, among other things, contract disputes, personal injury claims, environmental claims or proceedings, asbestos and other toxic tort claims, employment and tax matters, claims of infringement of patent and other intellectual property rights, and other litigation that arises in the ordinary course of our business. In addition, during periods of volatile and depressed market conditions, we may be subject to an increased risk of our customers, vendors, current and former employees and others initiating legal proceedings against us. Furthermore, actions or decisions we have taken or may take, or failed to take, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic may result in investigations, litigation or legal claims against us. We cannot predict with certainty the outcome or effect of any dispute, claim or other litigation matter, and there can be no assurance as to the ultimate outcome of any litigation or dispute.  While we maintain insurance coverage for potential litigation matters and disputes, some of these matters and disputes may not be covered by existing insurance.  Moreover, to the extent we do maintain such insurance coverage it may not be sufficient, insurers may not remain solvent, other claims may exhaust some or all of the insurance available to us or insurers may interpret our insurance policies such that they refuse to cover all (or a portion) of the losses for which we make claims or may otherwise dispute claims made. The risks associated with these litigation matters and disputes may be difficult to assess or

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quantify and the existence and magnitude of potential claims often remain unknown for substantial periods of time.  Furthermore, litigation and other disputes may have a material adverse effect on us because of potential adverse outcomes, defense costs, the diversion of our management’s resources and other risk factors inherent in litigation or relating to the claims that may arise.  Our involvement in any litigation matter or other disputes could cause us to incur significant legal and other associated costs, including the payment of damages.

The loss of some of our key executive officers and employees could negatively impact our business prospects.

Our future operational performance depends to a significant degree upon the continued service of key members of our management as well as marketing, technical and operations personnel. The loss of one or more of our key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business. We believe our future success will also depend in large part upon our ability to attract, retain and further motivate highly skilled management, marketing, technical and operations personnel. We may experience intense competition for personnel, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to retain key employees or that we will be successful in attracting, assimilating and retaining personnel in the future.

Customers may be unable or unwilling to indemnify us.

Consistent with standard industry practice, our customers generally assume liability for and indemnify us against well control and subsurface risks under our dayrate contracts, and we do not separately purchase insurance for such indemnified risks. These risks are those associated with the loss of control of a well, such as blowout or cratering, the cost to regain control or redrill the well and associated pollution. In the future, we may not be able to obtain agreements from customers to indemnify us for such damages and risks or the indemnities that we do obtain may be limited in scope and duration or subject to exceptions. Additionally, even if our customers agree to indemnify us, there can be no assurance that they will necessarily be financially able to indemnify us against all of these risks.

There may be limits to our ability to mobilize drilling units between geographic markets and the time and costs of such drilling unit mobilizations may be material to our business.

The offshore contract drilling market is generally a global market as drilling units may be mobilized from one market to another market. However, geographic markets can, from time to time, have material fluctuations in costs and risks as the ability to mobilize drilling units can be impacted by several factors including, but not limited to, governmental regulation and customs practices, the significant costs to move a drilling unit, availability of tow boats or heavy lift vessels, weather, political instability, civil unrest, military actions and the technical capability of the drilling units to operate in various environments. Any increase in the supply of drilling units in the geographic areas in which we operate, whether through new construction, refurbishment or conversion of drilling units from other uses, remobilization or changes in the law or its application, could increase competition and result in lower dayrates and/or utilization, which would adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Additionally, while a drilling unit is being mobilized from one geographic market to another, we may not be paid by the customer for the time that the drilling unit is out of service. Also, we may mobilize the drilling unit to another geographic market without a customer contract which could result in costs not reimbursable by future customers.

Reactivation of idle rigs may take longer or be more costly than we anticipate.

Reactivation of idle rigs may take longer and be more costly than anticipated. As our rigs are mobilized from one geographic location to another, the labor and other operating and maintenance costs can vary significantly. In general, labor costs increase primarily due to higher salary levels and inflation. Equipment maintenance expenses fluctuate depending upon the type of activity the rig is performing and the age and condition of the equipment. Contract preparation expenses vary based on the scope and length of contract preparation required and the duration of the firm contractual period over which such expenditures are amortized.

Failure to employ a sufficient number of skilled workers or an increase in labor costs could materially and adversely impact our operations.

We require skilled personnel to operate and provide technical services to, and support for, our drilling units. In periods of increasing activity and when the number of operating units in our areas of operation increases, either because of new construction, re-activation of idle units or the mobilization of units into the region, shortages of qualified personnel could arise, creating upward pressure on wages and difficulty in staffing. The shortages of qualified personnel or the inability to obtain and retain qualified personnel also could negatively affect the quality and timeliness of our work. In addition, our ability to expand operations depends in part upon our ability to increase the size of the skilled labor force. Due to the extremely weak conditions in the offshore drilling market, the lack of employment and lower wages for offshore personnel have caused and will continue to cause many of our current offshore personnel to permanently leave the industry for employment opportunities in other industries. If industry conditions improve, there is no guarantee these workers will return to the offshore industry resulting in a shortage of qualified personnel that we will be able to employ.

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Our information technology systems and those of our service providers are subject to cybersecurity risks and threats.

We depend on information technology systems that we manage, and others that are managed by our third-party service and equipment providers, to conduct our operations, including critical systems on our drilling units, and these systems are subject to risks associated with cyber incidents or attacks as well as breaches due to human error. It has been reported that unknown entities or groups have mounted cyber-attacks on businesses and other organizations solely to disable or disrupt computer systems, disrupt operations and, in some cases, steal data. Due to the nature of cyber-attacks, breaches to our systems or the systems of our service or equipment providers could go unnoticed for a prolonged period of time. These cybersecurity risks could disrupt our operations and result in downtime, loss of revenue or the loss of critical data, as well as result in higher costs to correct and remedy the effects of such incidents. The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors has oversight responsibility related to our cybersecurity risk management programs and periodically reviews reports on cybersecurity and other information technology risks.

In 2018, we experienced a cybersecurity breach which temporarily hindered our ability to utilize our email server and obstructed certain back-up data. However, the breach did not have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows, and did not compromise any customer data. The costs to restore the data and services impacted by the cybersecurity breach were not material. While we believe such breach to be an isolated incident, we cannot provide assurance that we will not in the future experience any other actual or attempted breaches of our cybersecurity. If either our systems or the systems of our service or equipment providers used for protecting against cyber incidents or attacks prove to be insufficient and another incident were to occur, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Currently, we carry limited insurance for losses related to cybersecurity attacks and may elect to not increase such coverage in the future.  Furthermore, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our office personnel began working remotely in 2020, which heightens potential cybersecurity risks given the reliance on remote networking capabilities and utilization of external devices. If either our systems or the systems of our service or equipment providers used for protecting against cyber incidents or attacks prove to be insufficient and incidents were to occur as a result of working remotely, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Consolidation of suppliers and vendors may increase the costs of obtaining critical supplies and services, which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We rely on certain third parties to provide supplies and services necessary for our offshore drilling operations, including, but not limited to, suppliers and vendors which provide, among other things, drilling equipment, machinery, and catering services. Recent mergers have reduced and consolidated the number of available suppliers and vendors, resulting in fewer alternatives for sourcing key supplies and services. Such consolidation, combined with a high volume of drilling units under construction, could result in a shortage of supplies and services thereby increasing the cost of such supplies and services, and potentially inhibit the ability of suppliers and vendors to deliver on time, if at all. Cost increases and delays in, or the unavailability of, critical supplies and services could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and result in drilling unit downtime, and cause, among other things, delays in the repair and maintenance of our drilling units.

Construction projects are subject to risks, including delays and cost overruns, which could have an adverse impact on our liquidity and results of operations.

As part of our growth strategy we may contract from time to time for the construction of drilling units or may enter into agreements to manage the construction of drilling units for others. Construction projects are subject to the risks of delay or cost overruns inherent in any large construction project, including costs or delays resulting from the following:

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If we experience delays and costs overruns in the construction of drilling units due to certain of the factors listed above, it could also adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may engage in certain strategic or transformational transactions in the future, which could affect the value or type of our assets and financial condition. 

From time to time, our management independently evaluates, and separately receives indications of interest in respect of, a variety of strategic and/or transformational transactions in respect of our assets or a particular subset thereof. While the documents governing our indebtedness include certain restrictions on our ability to dispose of our assets or to finance the acquisitions of new assets, such restrictions contain various exceptions and limitations.   

To the extent we were to pursue or engage in such transactions, there is no guarantee that such transactions will be successful or, even if consummated, improve our operating results. We may incur costs, breakage fees or other expenses in connection with any such transactions, and any such transactions may ultimately have a material adverse effect on our operating results and on our ability to pay amounts due on our debt.  

In addition, such transactions may be transformative and consequently, may result in a change in the type of the assets we hold. Such new assets may be valued differently as compared to our current assets in the event of a liquidation thereof or due to changes in applicable market conditions even absent such a liquidation scenario. Accordingly, there can be no guarantee that any replacement assets will continue to hold comparable value to our current assets. Any such changes to our asset mix may also be viewed negatively by the market and could have an adverse effect on the trading price of our securities.

Negative publicity may adversely affect us.

Media coverage and public statements that insinuate improper actions by us, regardless of their factual accuracy or truthfulness, may result in negative publicity, litigation or governmental investigations by regulators. Addressing negative publicity and any resulting litigation or investigations may distract management, increase costs and divert resources. Negative publicity may have an adverse impact on our reputation and the morale of our employees, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Because our common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange, it is less liquid and its price may be negatively impacted by factors that are unrelated to, and independent of, our business operations.

Because our common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange, it is less liquid and its price may be negatively impacted by factors that are unrelated to, and independent of, our business operations, and therefore, beyond our control. Consequently, there is no assurance that a sufficient market will develop in our common stock, if at all, in which case it could be difficult for shareholders to sell their respective shares of common stock. Even if one or more brokers elects to make a market for our common stock on an over-the-counter market and complies with the applicable regulatory requirements, the market price of our common stock could fluctuate substantially in response to various factors and events, many of which are beyond our control, including the following:

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There can be no assurances that any public market for our common stock will exist in the future or that we will choose or be able to relist our common stock on a national securities exchange.

Risks Related to Government Regulations and Laws

Political disturbances, war, or terrorist attacks and changes in global trade policies and economic sanctions could adversely impact our operations.

Our operations are subject to political and economic risks and uncertainties, including instability resulting from civil unrest, political demonstrations, mass strikes, or an escalation or additional outbreak of armed hostilities or other crises in oil or gas producing areas, which may result in extended business interruptions, suspended operations and danger to our employees, or result in claims by our customers of a force majeure situation and payment disputes. Additionally, we are subject to risks of terrorism, piracy, political instability, hostilities, expropriation, confiscation or deprivation of our assets or military action impacting our operations, assets or financial performance in many of our areas of operations.  

Our offshore drilling operations could be adversely impacted by changes in regulation of offshore oil and gas exploration and development activity.

Offshore drilling operations could be adversely impacted by changes in regulation of offshore oil and gas exploration and development activities. New regulatory requirements in the future could impose greater costs on our operations, which could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. We do not currently operate in the United States, but may do so in the future. The jurisdictions in which we currently operate have imposed requirements for offshore oil and gas exploration and development activities and, like the U.S., may impose new regulatory requirements in the future.

Our business is subject to numerous governmental laws and regulations, including those that may impose significant costs and liability on us for environmental and natural resource damages.

Many aspects of our operations are affected by foreign, federal, state and local governmental laws, rules, regulations and policies that may relate directly or indirectly to the contract drilling industry, including those requiring us to control the discharge of oil and other contaminants into the environment or otherwise relating to environmental protection. Countries where we currently operate have environmental laws and regulations covering the discharge of oil and other contaminants and protection of the environment in connection with operations. Operations and activities in the United States and its territorial waters are subject to numerous environmental laws and regulations, including the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and MARPOL. While we do not currently operate in the United States, many of the countries in which we currently operate have similar requirements. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in the assessment of administrative, civil and criminal penalties, the imposition of remedial obligations, the denial or revocation of permits or other authorizations and the issuance of injunctions that may limit or prohibit operations.  

Laws and regulations protecting the environment have become more stringent in recent years and may in certain circumstances impose strict liability, rendering us liable for environmental and natural resource damages without regard to negligence or fault on our part. These laws and regulations may expose us to liability for the conduct of, or conditions caused by, others or for acts that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time the acts were performed. The application of these requirements, the modification of existing laws or regulations or the adoption of new laws or regulations relating to exploratory or development drilling for oil and gas could materially limit future contract drilling opportunities or materially increase our costs. In addition, we may be required to make significant capital expenditures to comply with such laws and regulations.

In addition some financial institutions are imposing, as a condition to financing, requirements to comply with additional non-governmental environmental and social standards in connection with operations outside the United States, such as the Equator Principles, a credit risk management framework for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in project finance transactions. Such additional standards could impose significant new costs on us, which may materially and adversely affect us.

Further, certain governments at the international, national, regional and state level are at various stages of considering or implementing treaties and environmental laws that could limit emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, associated with the burning of fossil fuels. It is not possible to predict how new laws to address greenhouse gas emissions would impact our business or that of our customers, but these laws and regulations could impose costs on us or negatively impact the market for offshore drilling services, and consequently, our business.

Changes in laws and regulations of jurisdictions where we operate, including those that may impose significant costs and liability on us for environmental and natural resource damages, may adversely affect our operations. The jurisdictions where we

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operate have modified or may in the future modify their laws and regulations in a manner that would increase our liability for pollution and other environmental damage.

With the recent change in administration of the U.S. federal government, it is likely that new legislation, regulatory enforcement actions and executive orders, which are specifically aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or prohibiting, delaying or restricting oil development activities in certain jurisdictions, will be proposed and adopted in the near-term. On January 20, 2021, an executive order was signed directing all executive departments and agencies to immediately commence work to confront the climate crisis, including recommending that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency consider new regulations to establish comprehensive standards of performance and emission guidelines for methane and volatile organic compound emissions from existing operations in the oil and gas sector, including the exploration and production, transmission, processing and storage segments, by September 2021. Moreover, an executive order was signed on January 27, 2021, which, among other things, places the climate crisis at the forefront of the United States’ foreign policy and national security planning, including submitting the United States instrument of acceptance to rejoin the Paris Agreement, affirming the achievement of global reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and net-zero global emissions by 2050 or prior, and reestablishing the United States as a leader in addressing climate change. Additionally, the executive order provides that, consistent with applicable law, the acting Secretary of the Department of the Interior shall pause new oil and gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of U.S. federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices in light of the Secretary of the Interior’s broad stewardship responsibilities over the public lands and in offshore waters, including potential climate and other impacts associated with oil and gas activities on public lands or in offshore waters. The execution of the foregoing executive orders and any additional executive orders, as well as the adoption and implementation of any new federal or state legislation or regulations could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow, including through the creation of increased compliance costs and operating restrictions.

We could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws.

The FCPA and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws (together, anti-corruption laws) prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Our policies mandate compliance with these laws. We operate in many parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree and, in certain circumstances, strict compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. Despite our extensive training and compliance program, we cannot assure you that our internal control policies and procedures will protect us from improper acts committed by our directors, employees or agents. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our business and result in a material adverse effect on our business and operations. We may be subject to competitive disadvantages to the extent that our competitors are able to secure business, licenses or other preferential treatment by making payments to government officials and others in positions of influence or using other methods that U.S. laws and regulations prohibit us from using.

In order to effectively compete in some foreign jurisdictions, we utilize local agents and seek to establish joint ventures with local operators or strategic partners. In addition, in some foreign jurisdictions in which we operate, we are required to retain the services of a national agent or sponsor. Although we have procedures and controls in place to monitor internal and external compliance, if we are found to be liable for violations of anti-corruption laws (either due to our own acts or omissions, or due to the acts or omissions of others, including actions taken by our agents and our strategic or local partners, even though our agents and partners may not be subject to the FCPA), we could suffer from civil and criminal penalties or other sanctions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

In July 2015, we became aware of media reports that Hamylton Padilha, the Brazilian agent VDC used in the contracting of the Titanium Explorer drillship to Petrobras, had entered into a plea arrangement with Brazilian authorities in connection with his role in facilitating the payment of bribes to former Petrobras executives. We voluntarily contacted the DOJ and the SEC to advise them of these developments. On August 2017, we received a letter from the DOJ indicating that the DOJ had closed its investigation on the matter without any action and on November 19, 2018, we concluded a settlement agreement with the SEC, including a payment of $5.0 million, resolving the SEC’s investigation into possible violations of the internal accounting control provisions of the FCPA by VDC and VDC’s subsidiaries (including Vantage and Vantage’s subsidiaries, the foregoing having been subsidiaries of VDC at the commencement of the investigation). With the settlement of this matter with the SEC, the U.S. government’s investigation of Vantage and VDC for possible violations of the FCPA was formally concluded.

We are exposed to potential risks from the requirement that we evaluate our internal controls under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

We have evaluated our internal controls systems in order to allow management to report on our internal controls, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. We have performed the system and process evaluation and testing required to comply with the management certification requirements of Section 404. As a result, we have incurred additional expenses and a diversion of management’s time. While we have been able to fully implement the requirements relating to internal controls and all other aspects of

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Section 404 in a timely fashion, we cannot be certain that our internal control over financial reporting will be adequate in the future to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or the FCPA. If we are not able to maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting, we may be susceptible to sanctions or investigation by regulatory authorities, such as the DOJ and the SEC. Any such action could adversely affect our business operations and financial results.

Because VDI is incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, stakeholders may face difficulties in protecting their interests, and their ability to protect their rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.

VDI is an exempted company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of the Cayman Islands. In addition, substantially all of our assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for holders of our securities to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the U.S. courts against our directors or executive officers.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) of the Cayman Islands, and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of holders of our securities to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are, to a large extent, governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from those under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws which may provide significantly less protection to investors as compared to the United States, and some states, such as Delaware, which have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law.

The Cayman Islands courts are also unlikely:

Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the federal courts of the United States. There is no statutory recognition in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, although the courts of the Cayman Islands recognize and enforce a non-penal judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without re-examination of the merits of the underlying dispute, provided such judgment:

The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands may stay proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Taxes

We may be required to repurchase certain of our indebtedness with cash upon a change of control or other triggering events.

Upon the occurrence of specified change of control events or certain losses of our vessels in the agreements governing the 9.25% First Lien Notes, we will be required to offer to repurchase or repay all (or, in the case of events of losses of vessels, an amount up to the amount of proceeds received from such event of loss) of the 9.25% First Lien Notes at the price and upon the terms set forth in the applicable agreement. In addition, in connection with certain asset sales, we will be required to offer to repurchase or repay the 9.25% First Lien Notes as set forth in the agreement governing the 9.25% First Lien Notes. We may not have sufficient funds available to repurchase or repay all of the debt that becomes due and payable pursuant to any such offer, which would constitute an event of default that, in turn, would likely trigger a default under any other then-existing debt agreements. Moreover, the creditors under certain of our debt agreements may limit our ability to repurchase debt. In that event, we would need to refinance the applicable debt, or obtain a waiver under the applicable debt agreement, before making an offer to purchase. We may be unable to refinance such indebtedness or obtain a waiver. Any requirement to offer to repurchase or repay any of our existing debt may therefore require us to refinance some or all of our other outstanding debt, which we may not be able to accomplish on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. These repurchase requirements may also delay or make it more difficult for others to obtain control of us.

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Our current backlog of contract drilling revenue may not be fully realized, which may have a material adverse impact on our consolidated statement of financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

As of December 31, 2020, our owned fleet had total drilling contract backlog of approximately $94.5 million. This amount was calculated based on certain estimates and assumptions regarding operations and payments to be received under such drilling contracts. Although management believes that such estimates and assumptions are reasonable, actual amounts received under these contracts could materially differ from the projected amount. Material differences between the projected contract backlog amount and the amounts actually received pursuant to such contracts could be caused by a number of factors, including rig downtime or suspension of operations. We may not be able to realize the full amount of our contract backlog due to events beyond our control.

Our financial results may not reflect historical trends.

Our past financial performance may not be indicative of our future financial performance. We have a limited operating history since our emergence from bankruptcy on the Effective Date. Further, we became a new entity for financial reporting purposes when we adopted fresh-start accounting as of our emergence from bankruptcy. As a result, our financial results for periods following our emergence from bankruptcy are different from historical trends and the differences may be material.

Changes in tax laws, treaties or regulations, effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our tax returns could adversely affect our financial results.

Our future effective tax rates could be adversely affected by changes in tax laws, treaties, and regulations both internationally and domestically. Tax laws, treaties and regulations are highly complex and subject to interpretation. Our income tax expense is based upon the interpretation of the tax laws in effect in various countries at the time that the expense was incurred. A change in these tax laws, treaties or regulations, or in the interpretation thereof, could result in a materially higher tax expense or a higher effective tax rate on our worldwide earnings.

Our consolidated effective income tax rate is impacted by a mix between our domestic and international pretax earnings or losses, as well as the mix of the international tax jurisdictions in which we operate. The extent of the impact cannot be anticipated due to the uncertainty regarding the nature and extent of our business activities in any particular jurisdiction in the future and the tax laws of such jurisdictions.  For example, in recent years we observed a global trend, in various jurisdictions, of enacted and proposed laws and regulations which aim to limit deductions, deny treaty benefits and /or impose additional taxes; all of these efforts are aligned with the base erosion and profit shifting framework.  Should we operate in any of the locations where this trend is ongoing, our financial position and business operations may be adversely impacted.

A loss of a tax dispute or a successful tax challenge to our operating structure, intercompany pricing policies or the taxable presence of our subsidiaries in certain countries could result in a higher tax rate on our worldwide earnings, which could in turn result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Income tax returns that we file will be subject to review and examination.  We recognize the benefit of income tax positions we believe are more likely than not to be sustained upon challenge by a tax authority.  If any tax authority successfully challenges our operational structure, intercompany pricing policies or the taxable presence of our subsidiaries in certain countries, if the terms of certain tax treaties are interpreted in a manner that is adverse to our structure, or if we lose a material tax dispute in any jurisdiction, our effective tax rate on our worldwide earnings could increase substantially and result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

U.S. Holders will be required to pay U.S. taxes on their share of VDI’s income even if they do not receive any cash distributions from VDI.

Because VDI is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, U.S. Holders will be required to pay U.S. federal income taxes and, in some cases, U.S. state and local income taxes on their share of VDI’s taxable income.  Given VDI’s current structure as a holding entity with no direct operations at the VDI level, we do not currently expect to generate material positive taxable income at VDI in the near term.  However, to the extent VDI does generate positive taxable income, U.S. Holders would still be required to pay U.S. taxes on their share of said income regardless of whether or not we make corresponding distributions to our equity holders. In addition, we cannot assure you that our current structure will not change in the future. U.S. Holders may not receive cash distributions from VDI equal to their share of VDI’s taxable income or even equal to the actual tax liability that results from their share of VDI’s taxable income.

An entity that would otherwise be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes may, unless an exception applies, nonetheless be taxable as a corporation if it is a “publicly traded partnership.” An entity that would otherwise be classified as a partnership is a publicly traded partnership if (1) interests in the partnership are traded on an established securities market or (2) interests in the partnership are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof. It is likely that VDI will be treated as a “publicly traded partnership.” However, an exception to taxation as a corporation, referred to as the “Qualifying Income

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Exception,” exists if at least 90% of such partnership’s gross income for every taxable year consists of “qualifying income” and the partnership is not required to register under the Investment Company Act.  Qualifying income includes certain interest income, dividends, real property rents, gains from the sale or other disposition of real property, and any gain from the sale or disposition of a capital asset or other property held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. VDI believes that it currently meets, and expects that it will continue to meet, the Qualifying Income Exception.

Distributions made by VDI may reduce a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Ordinary Shares, and therefore, U.S. Holders may realize a greater gain on the disposition of their Ordinary Shares than they otherwise may expect, and may have a tax gain even if the price they receive in a disposition of their Ordinary Shares is less than their original tax basis.

If U.S. Holders sell their Ordinary Shares, they will recognize gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes that is equal to the difference between the amount realized and their tax basis in those Ordinary Shares. Prior distributions in excess of the total net taxable income allocated decrease a U.S. Holder’s tax basis and will, in effect, become taxable income if Ordinary Shares are sold at a price greater than their tax basis, even if the price received is less than the U.S. Holder’s original tax basis.  Future cash distributions that exceed the U.S. Holder’s tax basis would result in a gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

In the case of a disposition of Ordinary Shares, VDI’s debt must be taken into account under the partnership tax accounting rules.

From time to time, VDI may incur debt for a variety of reasons. Under partnership tax accounting principles, VDI’s debt will generally be allocable to holders of VDI’s Ordinary Shares, and the holders will include their respective allocable shares of the debt in the U.S. federal income tax basis of their Ordinary Shares. A holder’s U.S. federal income tax basis in VDI’s Ordinary Shares will be adjusted for, among other things, distributions of cash, if any, and allocations of items of VDI’s income, gain, loss and deduction. At the time a U.S. Holder of VDI’s Ordinary Shares later sells its Ordinary Shares, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the U.S. Holder’s amount realized on the sale will include not only the sales price of the Ordinary Shares but also the U.S. Holder’s portion of VDI’s indebtedness that is allocable to those Ordinary Shares.  

U.S. tax-exempt holders and non-U.S. Holders face unique U.S. tax issues from owning Ordinary Shares that may result in adverse U.S. tax consequences to them.

Organizations exempt from U.S. federal income tax under Section 501(a) of the Code are subject to tax on “unrelated business taxable income” (“UBTI”).  UBTI arises primarily as income from an unrelated trade or business regularly carried on or as income from “debt-financed” property.  U.S. tax-exempt holders of Ordinary Shares generally would be subject to tax on their allocable shares of UBTI realized by VDI in the same manner as if such UBTI were realized directly by such organizations.  Debt-financed property means property held to produce income with respect to which there is “acquisition indebtedness” (i.e., indebtedness incurred in acquiring or holding property). As VDI has incurred “acquisition indebtedness” (such as, for example, the 9.25% Senior Secured First Lien Notes), U.S. tax-exempt holders of Ordinary Shares may be subject to the tax on UBTI on their investment (for so long as VDI is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and has acquisition indebtedness).  

VDI expects to conduct its affairs so that it will not be treated as engaged in a trade or business within the U.S. for U.S. federal income tax purposes.  As a consequence, VDI expects that (i) non-U.S. Holders will not be subject to U.S. federal tax on a net income basis with respect to the income of VDI, and (ii) VDI will not be required to withhold tax under Section 1446 of the Code with respect to non-U.S. Holders.   If, however, VDI were determined to be engaged in a trade or business within the United States for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and had income effectively connected therewith, then, in the case of a non-U.S. Holder; (a) the share of VDI’s income that is effectively connected with such trade or business that is allocable to such non-U.S. Holder could be subject to U.S. federal income withholding tax at a rate equal to the highest applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and such holder could be required to file a U.S. federal income tax return and pay U.S. federal income tax on its allocable share of VDI’s net effectively connected income; (b) all or a portion of the gain on the disposition (including by redemption) of Ordinary Shares by such non-U.S. Holder could be taxed as effectively connected income to the extent such gain is attributable to assets of VDI that generate effectively connected income; (c) if such non-U.S. Holder is a corporation, such income could be subject to an additional branch profits tax of 30% on its allocable share of VDI’s effectively connected earnings and profits, adjusted as provided by law (subject to reduction by any applicable tax treaty); and (d) such non-U.S. Holder, whether or not a corporation, could be viewed as being engaged in a trade or business within the United States and as maintaining an office or other fixed place of business within the United States, and certain other income of such non-U.S. Holder could be treated as effectively connected income (for example, a non-U.S. Holder who, pursuant to an applicable tax treaty, is currently not subject to tax with respect to a trade or business within the United States because such holder does not have a permanent establishment in the United States could lose the benefits of the tax treaty as a result of its ownership of Ordinary Shares).

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None.

We maintain offices, land bases and other facilities in several worldwide locations, including our principal executive offices in Houston, Texas, an operational, executive and marketing office in Dubai and a regional administrative office in Singapore. We lease all of these facilities.

The description of our drilling fleet included under “Business” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this Part I, Item 2.

 Information regarding the Company’s legal proceedings is set forth in “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies” of the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report.  The information discussed therein is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this Part I, Item 3.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Market Prices and Distributions

Since February 2020, our Ordinary Shares have been quoted on the OTC Pink Open Market under the symbol “VTDRF.”  Any over-the-counter market quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, markdown or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

Many of our shareholders hold shares electronically, all of which are owned by a nominee of DTC.  As of March 8, 2021, there were approximately 174 holders of record of our Ordinary Shares.

The Board of Directors declared the Special Cash Distribution to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 10, 2019.  

Other than the Special Cash Distribution, we have not made any cash or other distributions in respect of our New Shares to date and do not anticipate paying cash distributions in the immediate future as we contemplate that our cash flows will be used for debt reduction and growth. The payment of future distributions, if any, will be determined by the Board of Directors in light of conditions then existing, including our earnings, financial condition, capital requirements, restrictions in financing agreements, business conditions and other factors. We are subject to certain restrictive covenants under the terms of the agreements governing our indebtedness, including restrictions on our ability to pay any cash distributions.

Repurchases of Equity Securities

The ability to make share repurchases is subject to, among other things, the discretion of our Board of Directors and the covenants in our credit agreement.  There are no share repurchase programs outstanding at December 31, 2020.

There were no repurchases of equity securities during the fiscal fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020.

 Information regarding the Company’s shares available for issuance in connection with equity compensation plans is set forth in “Note 7. Shareholders' Equity” of the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report.  The information discussed therein is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this Part II, Item 5.

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The following selected financial information should be read in conjunction with “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

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The following discussion is intended to assist you in understanding our financial position and our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the information contained in “Item 1. Business,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I of this Annual Report and “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” in Part II of this Annual Report. Certain previously reported amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

Overview

We are an international offshore drilling company focused on operating a fleet of modern, high specification drilling units. Our principal business is to contract drilling units, related equipment and work crews, primarily on a dayrate basis to drill oil and gas wells for our customers. Through our fleet of drilling units we are a provider of offshore contract drilling services to major, national and independent oil and gas companies, focused on international markets. Additionally, for drilling units owned by others, we provide construction supervision services for rigs that are under construction, preservation management services for rigs that are stacked, and operational and marketing services for operating rigs.

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The following table sets forth certain information concerning our offshore drilling fleet as of March 11, 2021.