Skip to main content

Local competence at a glance, Part 3

Published by , Editor
Oilfield Technology,


Marc Berger, MAN Diesel & Turbo, concludes his explanation of how the company is dealing with the challenges of the Brazilian oil and gas market.

 

Suezmax tanker latest vessel in oil transport fleet

On 20 May, 2013 the Suezmax tanker Zumbi dos Palmares powered by an MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type prime mover and three MAN 7L23/30H auxiliary engines was launched. The vessel is the second ship built by Estaleiro Atlantico Sul (EAS) stemming from the Brazilian Government’s PROMEF shipbuilding program.

At the ceremony, Transpetro also announced the reactivation of contracts for 12 ships to be constructed by EAS. The latest newbuilding is one of 10 Suezmax vessels EAS is contracted to produce.

Transpetro is Brazil’s largest hydrocarbon transportation company and a fully owned subsidiary of Petrobras, the local energy multinational. Under PROMEF (Program for Modernization and Expansion of the Fleet), Transpetro has ordered a total of 28 ships, all to be equipped with MAN B&W two-stroke prime movers. Each engine has an output of circa 22 000 hp.

The other EAS vessel is a sister Suezmax tanker, the João Cândido, which was delivered in 2010 and is similarly powered by an electronically controlled MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type engine.

PROMEF aims to modernise the Transpetro fleet with a secondary aim the stimulation of activity within the Brazilian naval industry. Under the original terms of the program, 49 vessels of different sizes for the transport of oil and oil products were ordered, distributed among domestic shipyards, amounting to an investment of R$ 10.8 billion. The expectation is that the Transpetro fleet will number more than 110 ships in 2016.

 

Qualification of manpower

In the company’s PrimeServ Academies both customer personnel and staff receive up-to-date training. A know-how-transfer only the OEM can provide. This ensures that during operation and maintenance, everything is carried out correctly and efficiently.

Training is a prerequisite for optimising the performance of a plant and safeguarding customer investments. A well-trained and knowledgeable team of plant operation and maintenance personnel is absolutely essential for a plant in order to increase engine and overall plant, reliability and availability, maximise service life and times between overhauls, minimise scheduled and unscheduled down time, optimise plant capacity and improve fuel and lube oil consumption and reduce operating costs.

To meet these goals, MAN Diesel & Turbo provides a variety of comprehensive training programmes and courses for plant managers, operators and maintenance staff.

The Brazilian labour market especially in the oil and gas segment is quite overheated and lacking qualified labor.  Market prices are high and there exists a strong competition between companies battling for qualified manpower.

Therefore MAN Diesel & Turbo Brasil Ltda. just inaugurated a new PrimeServ Academy in Brazil. Located close to the international airport of Rio de Janeiro, in the imperial town of Petrópolis, the MAN PrimeServ Academy Rio offers a wide range of turbomachinery and diesel engine courses. The portfolio of practical equipment for hands-on training is comprised by a gas turbine and turbocompressor training skid, a ME diesel engine simulator and a power generation simulator. Theoretical training is carried out in three classrooms equipped with modern training aids.

 

 

 

Part 1 of this article can be reached here.

Part 2 of this article can be reached here.

 

 

 

Adapted by David Bizley

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/11102013/local_competence_at_a_glance_part_3/

You might also like

 
 

Embed article link: (copy the HTML code below):


 

This article has been tagged under the following:

Oil & gas news