Gulf Connections: How the remarkable journey of the Adma Enterprise saw Abu Dhabi strike oil

Innovative technology and an epic voyage helped make history

The Adma Enterprise is towed along the Kiel Canal in northern Germany in 1957, at the start of its journey to Abu Dhabi. Photo: BP Archives

Over the years, Abu Dhabi has been the place for many engineering marvels, from the Sheikh Zayed Bridge to the museums of Saadiyat Island and the leaning tower of the Capital Gate skyscraper.

But none could have attracted as much astonishment and wonder as what appeared to be a giant upturned table floating up the Arabian Gulf in the last weeks of 1957.

The deep water rig that came into view was designed to drill for oil in the waters of Abu Dhabi’s Das Island. How it came to be here was the work of people from many lands.

Underwater surveys had indicated this was the place oil was most likely to be found, so much that what was then Abu Dhabi Marine Areas − the concession granted by the Ruler Sheikh Shakhbout − was take the chance with what would then a considerable investment equivalent of Dh60 million,

The technology to build the rig existed in the US, where inshore versions worked in the Gulf of Mexico, but the logistics of building in America and shipping it to Abu Dhabi were unsurmountable.

Shipyards in the UK refused to take on the project for its complexity, even though the oil concession was largely run by a British company, BP. Instead, Adma looked to German technology.

The mobile drilling rig Adma Enterprise, made in Germany, operating in the Arabian Gulf at Umm Shaif oilfield in the 1950-1960s. Photo: BP Archive

The Gutehoffnungshutte shipyard, on the banks of the Kiel Canal in northern Germany, accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. In the war, the yard had built U-boats for Hitler’s navy, but with defeat in 1945 and the country divided between East and West Germany, it was eager to prove its worth.

Work on the rig, now named Adma Enterprise, began in early 1956 and was completed by late summer the following year. It was launched directly into the Kiel Canal, a 98km canal that cuts across the Jutland peninsula in what was then West Germany, emerging in the North Sea.

To reach Abu Dhabi meant towing the 4,000 tonne rig from Germany to the Arabian Gulf, a journey made easier by the news that Egypt had been able to reopen the Suez Canal, which had been blocked by sunken ships after the failed attack by Britain and France in the 1956 Suez War.

After leaving Germany, the Adma Enterprise began its journey past the coasts of the Netherlands and Belgium, then through the English Channel, sailing down the Atlantic coasts of France and Portugal in stormy seas before entering the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar after a month.

From there, it progressed through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea, passing Yemen and Oman before entering the Arabian Gulf though the Strait of Hormuz after 92 days at sea.

The epic voyage ended in a new harbour at Das Island, where Adma had established a forward exploration base. There a team of international workers, including recruits from Abu Dhabi, prepared the rig for drilling.

The Adma Enterprise was towed to the drilling site and fixed to the seabed in early January 1958. Just over two months later, on March 28, it struck oil at Umm Shaif offshore field, near Das Island. And the rest is history.

Charting Abu Dhabi's historic oil discovery