Contract Carried Out Using Just One Offshore Installation Vessel
Jumbo Offshore has transported and installed a torpedo pile mooring system for a floating production, storage and offloading, or FPSO, vessel at Brazil’s pre-salt Mero field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
The installation for the Libra Consortium’s Guanabara FPSO was carried out using just one of Jumbo’s J-class offshore installation vessels, the Fairplayer.
The torpedo mooring system, developed by Brazil’s state-owned energy giant Petrobras, involves lowering a torpedo pile into the water to a set depth before releasing it, allowing it to plunge at high speed before hitting the seabed.
A remotely operated vehicle is then deployed to attach mooring chains and lines.
According to the company, this type of installation normally requires the mobilization of up to three anchor tugs.
“Working with one vessel enabled a much more controlled process,” said Brian Boutkan, Jumbo’s head of sales and business development for the Americas.
“Furthermore, compared to previous campaigns with anchor handling vessels, the operations at the port were also more efficient. The Fairplayer has its own cranes, which meant we could pick up the equipment ourselves. And she has a large deck, so she carried more torpedoes and needed less trips to port.”
Jumbo Offshore carried out the work in each quarter of 2021, and included a preliminary survey of the seabed and the removal of obstacles.
Among the components installed by the Fairplayer were 24 torpedo anchor piles weighing 120 tonnes each along with connecting chains and polyline sections, and 11 anchors weighing 35 tonnes a piece for the flexible risers and umbilical mooring lines.
The anchor piles were tilted over the side of the vessel and lowered into the water using one of Fairplayer’s 900-tonne cranes.
“There are always waves and swell when working in the South Atlantic region offshore Brazil,” Boutkan said. “During the installation we encountered all seasons, from summer to winter. This definitely gave us some challenges, but we improved our efficiency in working with the piles to a point that we could install them even in higher waves.”
The Libra Consortium is led by Petrobras alongside partners Shell Brasil, TotalEnergies, Chinese firms CNPC and CNOOC, and Pre-Sal Petroleo.
According to Shell, the FPSO Guanabara has an installed capacity of 12 million cubic metres of natural gas and 180,000 barrels of oil per day. Mero, which began producing in May, is slated to receive another three FPSOs between 2023 and 2025.
Jumbo is a frequent exhibitor at Breakbulk events.
The next event in the calendar is Breakbulk Americas 2022, taking place on Sept. 27-29 at the George R. Brown Convention Centre in Houston, Texas.
To register for the conference, click here.
