Marine Technology Reporter Blogs - dof

With the experience Petrobras has gained in deepwater field construction, the national operator has learned the best ways to get the job done and who to work with. Much of Petrobras’ deepwater seafloor construction work has been done by DOF, Technip, Subsea 7, FMC and Aker. Large deepwater post-salt fields such as Roncador, Frade and Marlim amongst others have been the main testing grounds of many construction techniques and much of the equipment being installed. Obviously, experience in deepwater seafloor construction has also been gained by Petrobras and service providers in locations such as the GoM and West Africa. Most of the pre-salt subsea trees will be built and installed by FMC, OneSubsea and Aker. FMC has a total order worth $1,5 billion, which was announced in March of 2012.

In the wake of the Subsea Vessel Brazil conference in Rio, Petrobras announced the approval to contract eight support vessels for its offshore activities. These are part of the 3rd Fleet OSV Renewal Plan (Prorefam). This is the 5th round and 4 vessels will be contracted from Bram Offshore, to be build at the Navship shipyard in the state of Santa Catarina, 3 from Starnav, with construction planned for the Detroit shipyard, also in Santa Catarina and 1 from Norskan, which will be built at the STX (Vard) shipyard in Niteroi, across the bridge from the city of Rio, where the Dof and Nordskan build all their Brazilian flagged ships. This is good news for the shipyards involved and for the OSV market in general, as the Brazilian offshore maritime market is heavily dependent on Petrobras orders.

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.

DOF has been awarded four new charter contracts by Petrobras, at a total value of NOK 5.2 billion.Norskan Offshore do Brazil, a subsidiary of DOF ASA has been awarded four, 8 years contracts with Petrobras for large AHTS vessels. Two of the charter contracts are for new build numbers 26 and 27 to be built at the STX Promar yard in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Norskan is in final negotiation with STX Promar for two new build contracts to serve the other two charter contracts awarded. The charter contracts are expected to begin sometime between 2011 and 2013. The four contracts represent gross revenues of approximately NOK 5.2 billion. DOF CEO Mons Aase commented…

Knowing that new deepwater contracts in Brazil will be forthcoming in 2010, DOF Subsea invests in the new Cougar XTi ROV from Saab Seaeye to boost its already highly competitive profile.DOF Subsea, has taken delivery of an advanced design of deep-swimming ROV from Saab Seaeye, destined for Brazil. The new 3000 metre-rated Cougar XTi ROV features technological developments that open up a greater range of deep water applications. It will be permanently commissioned aboard a specially built DOF Subsea vessel, along with two hydraulic work-class vehicles. The vessel has been constructed in Norway and will operate offshore in Brazil for Light Well Intervention. The onboard Launch and Recovery System (LARS) has been built by ODIM, and includes Active Heave Compensation.