DOF Launches Largest AHT Ever Built in Brazil

Last Month the DOF Group named on the largest anchor handling tug vessel (AHT) ever built in Brazil, the Skandi Iguaçu. The vessel has over 32,000 BHP installed and bollard pull of more than 300 tons. Having been built at the STX OSV shipyard accros the bridge from the city of Rio de Janeiro, in Niteroi, the vessel will be ready for delivery to Petrobras three to five months in advance of contract requirement. Skandi Iguacu was ordered from STX OSV shipyard, with financing from the Brazilian Merchant Marine Fund through the BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank). The Skandi Iguaçu is part of a new generation of high powered anchor handling vessels, designed for operations across a wide range of deepwater depths and environmental conditions. It is outfitted with the latest equipment for safe AHT operations, such as the largest AHT winches, cargo rail cranes with manipulators and new systems for handling rig anchors at the stern of the vessel, along with the latest DP (dynamic positioning) technology. To design the Skandi Iguaçu, the DOF group was careful about environmental preservation. The new vessel can achieve reduction in fuel consumption up to 30% using a hybrid propulsion system that combines a conventional diesel motor and an electric system directly connected to its gear. According to Eirik Torrensen, DOF Manager in Brazil, the Skandi Iguaçu represents the consolidating of the groups position in Brazil. “I am honored to say that of the 64 company vessels in worldwide operations, 24 are in the Brazilian coast and more than half the fleet carries the Brazilian flag”, said Mr. Torrensen. Present in Brazil since 2001, the Norwegian group DOF ASA, has already invested US$1 billion in the construction and operation of sips geared to the O&G industry, specializing in Deepwater operations. The company has a client list in Brazil composed of important operators such as Petrobras, Shell, Statoil, Chevron and Brazilian junior operator OGX. Presently the company employs 1,300 people in Brazil and has a local fleet of 28 vessels of various kinds, of which 24 are in operation (10 AHTs, 5 PSVs, 7 CSVs, 2 PLSVs) and has four other vessels in construction at local shipyards. Of the 24 vessels in operation 11 were built in Brazil. Before building the Skandi Iguaçu, DOF has already built the biggest Multipurpose vessel (MPSV, part of the CSV vessel category) in Brazil, the Skandi Vitoria, launched in 2010. Claudio Paschoa