In a consortium with Tomé Engenharia S.A. of Brazil, Ferrostaal GmbH has received an order to equip special ypsilon ships for gas and oil extraction off the Brazilian coast. The order volume totals a value of around EUR 700 million. In addition, an option for equipping two further special ships was agreed with a value totalling EUR 200 million.
The ‘Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessels’ (FPSOs), which were produced in a specially constructed shipyard near Maceio in the east of Brazil, will be used as production and storage units during offshore drilling in the new ‘Tupi’ oil field not far from Rio de Janeiro. The clients, who also own the ships for the project, are Guara BV and Tupi BV, European affiliates of Brazilian petroleum company Petrobras. Ferrostaal Industrieanlagen GmbH will provide processing know-how as well as engineering and project management in the consortium, while Tomé has a great deal of experience in installing such modules. Both consortium parties shall be responsible for procurement.
‘Instrumental to the client’s decision to award the order to us was not only our extensive engineering expertise in the field of gas- and oil processing plants,’ remarked Kay Hanns Ewaldsen, managing director of Ferrostaal GmbH, ‘but also our ability to satisfy the specific requirements for local added value in Brazil.’
The special vessels offer enormous benefits for offshore oil and gas extraction. As mobile production and storage units, they can be quickly and flexibly deployed and eliminate the need to create a costly local pipeline infrastructure. The oil extracted is pumped through underwater pipes from the drilling platforms to holds aboard the ships, where the oil is processed and stored before it is loaded onto an oil tanker.
