USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193) is a large ship currently being used as a deep-sea drilling platform. The vessel was built for a secret operation, Project Jennifer, by the United StatesCentral Intelligence Agency to recover a sunken Soviet submarine, K-129, which was lost in April 1968.
The operation became public in February 1975 when the Los Angeles Times published a story about Project Jennifer, followed by news stories with additional details in other publications, including the New York Times.
In 1997, the ship was taken to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard for modifications that converted it to a dynamically-positioned deep sea drilling ship, capable of drilling in waters of 7500 feet and, with some modification, up to 11,500 feet, which is 2,000 feet deeper than any other existing rig. The conversion cost over $180 million and was completed during the first quarter of 1998.
The conversion of the vessel in 1997 was the start of a 30-year lease from the U.S. Navy to Global Marine Drilling. Global Marine merged with Santa Fe International Corporation in 2001 to become GlobalSantaFe Corporation, which merged with Transocean Inc. in November 2007 and operates the vessel as the Explorer.