Hyundai Heavy Industries extended its lead in the drill ship market signing a contract for one more such vessel on Thursday.

According to the company, the Geneva-based Noble Corp. issued a 600 billion won ($509 million) contract for a drill ship. With the latest deal, the company has been signed on to build 10 drill ships this year, giving it the largest number of drill ship contracts won this year.

The new contract issued by Noble Corp. is one of the two vessels included as options in a contract for two drill ships signed at the beginning of the year.

The other option was activated in March, and the vessel commissioned Thursday will be delivered during the second half of 2014, the company said.

The company attributed the success in the drill ship market to its efficient design and advanced technologies.

According to the world’s largest shipbuilder, its drill ships are designed to be able to drill up to 12 kilometers down from the sea surface, which is the deepest drilling depth available on existing drill ships.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)