Ensco International said it lost the Ensco 74 rig as Hurricane Ike left a trail of destruction throughout the Gulf of Mexico region.  

The company said it has completed a preliminary visual inspection of its Gulf of Mexico rig fleet in the path of Hurricane Ike and that all but one of its jackup rigs in the hurricane's path have been located, with no damage reported on those rigs.  

Eight of Ensco's 13 Gulf of Mexico jackup rigs have been re-manned and the company's deepwater semisubmersible rig, Ensco 7500, has returned to its drilling location and is preparing to resume operations.  

Ensco said in a statement: “The rig that is not accounted for is Ensco 74, a MLT Super 116-C that had been located in approximately 230 feet of water 92 miles from shore in South Marsh Island Block 149.  

“Aerial reconnaissance and a boat dispatched to the location failed to locate the rig. All personnel had been safely evacuated from the rig ahead of the storm. The rig is insured for $100 million and the Company has a $50 million per occurrence retention for Gulf of Mexico windstorm damage losses with an aggregate annual limit of $155 million.”