Twin FPSOs switch places at Rio yard

Having arrived mid-July at BRASA shipyard, FPSO Cidade de Maricá will depart shortly from the quayside to offshore Brazil, where the high-capacity vessel will be installed and operated for the next 20 years. A symbol of Brazil’s successful pre-salt production, Maricá will join the increasing ranks of FPSOs, which contribute to the production of the country’s oil and gas. SBM Offshore is contributing to this goal and has a double cause for celebration this December with FPSO Cidade de Maricá’s milestone and the arrival of her twin sister ship FPSO Cidade de Saquarema - currently waiting in Rio´s Guanabara Bay to take her turn at SBM Offshore’s Niteroi-Rio based joint-venture yard by year end.

FPSO Cidade de Saquarema arrived in Brazilian waters early November, following her 57-day and 10 738 Nm (approximately 20 000 km) voyage from China, where conversion of the two vessels’ hulls took place. The module lifting campaign will begin immediately once Cidade de Saquarema is safely berthed at BRASA. Integration of the modules fabricated in Brazil will be followed by final commissioning before setting sail in 2016 to join Cidade de Maricá on Lula field at the Santos Basin.

FPSO Cidade de Maricá and FPSO Cidade de Saquarema will bring SBM Offshore’s Brazilian operating fleet to a total of seven vessels by mid-2016. Both vessels are carbon-copies, designed and being constructed from the blueprint of the mothership FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela, which started production November 24, 2014. FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela is currently the deepest in SBM Offshore’s operating fleet at 2140 m and has the largest throughput capacity at 150 000 bpd and the twins will have the same capacity.

SBM Offshore Chief Operating Officer Philippe Barril commented: “We are happy with the progress to date on FPSOs Cidade de Saquarema and Cidade de Maricá and we look forward to the delivery of the FPSOs to our client Petrobras. We expect them to follow in the footsteps of their mother ship FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela, which has been successfully producing offshore Brazil for just over one year and is an example of the world-class standards to which SBM Offshore aspires.”

Project Director John Perkins says “The departure and arrival of the two FPSOs represent newsworthy milestones for SBM Offshore and a further step on the road to delivery. It demonstrates SBM Offshore’s effective global project management for our conversions, which is being jointly conducted from our Regional Centers in Brazil, the Netherlands and Monaco. The Company is very proud to welcome Cidade de Saquarema to the quayside for the final integration of her modules and the team is ready for the next lifting campaign using the Pelicano-1 barge crane, which has already proven the quality work that can be achieved here in Brazil on the previous lifting campaigns for FPSOs Cidade de Maricá and Cidade de Ilhabela.”

SBM Offshore Managing Director Brazil, Oliver Kassam, comments on the successful project to date: “Highly challenging and fast-track, this project illustrates how solid planning and repeatability – leveraging past experience and a proven design - can yield the desired results. The Brazilian execution scope of these types of complex projects can be a challenge, however the results achieved together with our joint-venture company BRASA, prove that it can be done safely, efficiently and on schedule.”

Adapted from a press release by David Bizley

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/offshore-and-subsea/16122015/twin-fpsos-switch-places-at-rio-yard/