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The use of drones is another technology adopted by the Forship Group in offshore projects. Forship is implementing drone inspections for equipment to enhance its operations in the offshore environment. “Drone inspections enable us to issue integrity reports for platforms more quickly and subsequently open maintenance orders for services such as boilerwork, welding, or painting. Additionally, we eliminate the exposure of our staff to risks, reducing rope access and scaffolding activities,” says Operations Director Marco Antonio Kronemberger. “The main objective is to ensure the integrity of installations with speed and quality in the services provided,” adds the executive, noting that the Forship Group currently has 25 unmanned fixed platforms under contract. “Sometimes, we cannot access them due to oceanographic conditions. However, drones can be launched from a barge and perform equipment inspections onboard the platform,” he explains. Vision “We have already conducted some tests with the inspection of oil well valves. In the offshore environment, we will capture images of various equipment installed on the topside of platforms, such as crane booms, floors, pipelines, railings, etc., to assess the condition of the equipment for future maintenance evaluations,” explains Project Manager Hudson Azevedo. He emphasizes that the main advantage is the ability to access hard-to-reach areas that would otherwise require scaffolding or rope access (climbers), as well as launching drones from support vessels, eliminating the need for human access to the platform. Director Marco Antonio Kronemberger envisions the use of drones in other projects as well. “We could use drones at the São Paulo LNG Regasification Terminal (TRSP) to conduct inspections along the 8-km pipeline easement between the terminal in Santos Bay and the custody transfer point in Cubatão,” he concludes.

HMSWeb© is the corporate tool for two flagship mining projects in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. HMSWeb Tecnologia da Informação is further expanding its project portfolio with Vale, with which it has a corporate contract for configuring and licensing the HMSWeb© – Handover Management System. The fully digital solution from the Forship Group company, which facilitates the management, control, certification, and verification of all commissioning-related activities, will be used in two of the mining company’s flagship projects. MORE EFFICIENT, SAFE, AND SUSTAINABLE One of the contracts pertains to the plants at the Cauê Mine in Itabira (MG), where Vale is employing New Steel technology to enable the dry magnetic concentration of low-grade ores – that is, without using water. The Brazilian technology, known by the English acronym FDMS (Fines Dry Magnetic Separation), is unique worldwide. The pilot plant was inaugurated in 2022 in Minas Gerais, with a capacity to concentrate 30 tons per hour of dry ore using magnetic separation technology via rare earth magnets. Vale is expected to invest USD 1.8 billion in incorporating this technology into its operations in Minas Gerais. With New Steel, Vale estimates that by 2024, 70% of its production will be beneficiated dry or with natural moisture, without adding water in the beneficiation process and without using tailings dams. REDUCTION IN CO2 EMISSIONS HMSWeb© will serve as the commissioning management tool for the implementation of the briquette beneficiation plants at the Tubarão unit in Vitória (ES). At the end of last year, Vale inaugurated the world’s first iron ore briquette plant. The Vale project at Tubarão, with two briquette units, will have a capacity to produce 6 million tons per year (MTPA) of briquettes, derived from the conversion of Pelletizing Plants 1 and 2. The new product, developed by Vale, reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in blast furnaces by up to 10%, and in the future could enable zero-emission steel production when green hydrogen becomes available. In addition to reducing particulate emissions and gases such as sulfur dioxide (SOX) and nitrogen oxides (NOX), the briquette eliminates the need for water in its production and can be used in the direct reduction route, replacing pellets. “These two contracts further strengthen our partnership with Vale, which has lasted over a decade. Today, we have no fewer than 32 active contracts with Vale,” highlights Luciano Gaete, Director of HMSWeb Tecnologia da Informação.

Grupo Forship has successfully passed the external audit conducted by Bureau Veritas for the maintenance of certifications in the ISO/IEC 27000 family (Information Security Management System) and SGI (ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001). The initial certification for ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System), ISO 27018 (Protection of Personal Data in the Cloud), and ISO 27701 (Privacy and Data Protection) was obtained a year ago. Now, with zero non-conformities (NC) in this external audit, Grupo Forship has also achieved ISO 27017 (Information Security in Cloud Services), thus completing the set of key Information Security standards. “We are proud to be certified in ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and ISO 27701, reflecting our ongoing commitment to data security and privacy,” said Luciano Gaete, Director of HMSWeb Information Technology. “These certifications ensure that our clients, employees, and suppliers can trust our robust processes to protect sensitive information, reinforcing our position as a leader in the industry and our dedication to excellence in information security,” concluded the executive. The Integrated Management System maintenance audit, which covers ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 standards, resulted in three minor non-conformities, with the necessary corrective actions already addressed to the certifier.

SafeEx and HMSWeb Complete Pilot Project at TRSP Forship Group and SafeEx have completed a pilot project at the São Paulo Regasification Terminal (TRSP), where over 50 explosion-risk equipment items were inspected, resulting in a detailed report on the work performed for the client. “The work was carried out by a team consisting of an EX inspection specialist familiar with SafeEx software, and our HMSWeb implementation and support consultant, Eduardo Neira. With this experience, our team is now equipped to support the SafeEx product, while also identifying our points of synergy and complementarity with HMSWeb®. We will begin providing the first level of technical support for SafeEx products in the region,” said Luciano Gaete, Director of HMSWeb Tecnologia da Informação. Since 2022, Forship Group has been the commercial partner for SafeEx in Brazil and Latin America. SafeEx offers a software platform (SafeEx Cloud) specialized in the management of inspections and maintenance for explosion-risk equipment, known as Ex equipment. “The partnership is mutually beneficial: just as we seek opportunities for SafeEx in our market, our partner opens doors for HMSWeb® in other markets, particularly Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania,” adds the executive. The partnership also aims to strengthen and differentiate the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) services provided by Forship Group. “We now have a demonstration showcase for SafeEx in Brazil, and we are building a knowledge base about the product and EX inspections. This involves not only the IT support team but also the project and O&M engineering teams,” explains Luciano Gaete SafeEx operates as a SaaS (Software as a Service), providing its solutions over the Internet as a service. Forship Group licenses SafeEx’s product (in the SaaS model) and assumes responsibility for local customer implementation, training, and support. “We also aim to offer specialized inspection services for this type of equipment, providing not only the software but also specialized engineering services for Ex equipment, similar to how we provide HMSWeb + commissioning engineering services from Forship,” concludes the HMSWeb director.

From pre-commissioning and commissioning to regulatory compliance assurance, Forship Group ensures the third Mero unit’s direct deployment to the Santos Basin. The Forship Group’s partnership with MISC Berhad, one of the world’s largest FPSO/FSO owners and operators, is further cemented by another landmark project: the FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias. This unit will enhance the installed production capacity of the Mero field to 590,000 barrels per day when it begins operation in the second half of the year. Since September 2021, Forship Group has been involved in this project, completing the regulatory support services for this FPSO, in addition to pre-commissioning and commissioning. Teams have worked simultaneously in Brazil and China, where the third floating production, storage, and offloading unit for the Mero field’s definitive development, operated by Petrobras in the Libra block, was built. “This project is special for the group because we sought and obtained all necessary certifications and licenses from Brazilian authorities while still in China. This is a significant differentiator, as units typically need to go through additional processes upon arrival in Brazil before being deployed,” highlights Danilo Martins, Regulatory Compliance Coordinator at Forship Group. “This demonstrates our commitment to regulatory compliance and our ability to anticipate and meet all necessary requirements effectively and efficiently, surpassing standard industry practices,” he affirms. According to Martins, the major challenge was the complexity of the work, as it was necessary to meet all requirements of Brazil’s extensive regulations while the unit was being completed abroad. This involved managing teams with cultural differences, instructing foreign teams on Brazilian regulations, and overcoming communication barriers due to the language differences in China. “It was also challenging to ensure strict adherence to all quality and safety standards without compromising the project timeline,” Martins adds. He assesses that the most significant positive impact of the BRC was the optimization of the schedule, eliminating delays, additional costs associated with subsequent certifications, and penalties from regulatory and supervisory agencies. “This further strengthens Forship Group’s reputation as a leader in regulatory compliance and operational efficiency, consolidating our position as a market benchmark and reinforcing clients’ confidence in our ability to deliver comprehensive, high-quality solutions,” he asserts Luciano Gaete, Director of HMSWeb Tecnologia da Informação, adds, “We also had another opportunity to enhance the visibility of our commissioning management software, HMSWeb© (Handover Management System), which was utilized by MISC in this project.” The Forship Group subsidiary provided management services for the pending tasks and preservation of eight modules supplied by Siemens for the FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias. The contract scope included licensing and services for HMSWeb© configuration, training, and support. Chartered by Petrobras, MISC Berhad’s FPSO has a daily production capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil and can compress up to 12 million cubic meters of gas. By 2028, this FPSO is expected to receive Petrobras’s HISEP® technology, which allows for the separation of oil and gas on the ocean floor and pioneering CO2 reinjection. The unit also features other cutting-edge technologies to reduce emissions, including CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) The Mero field has been in pre-production since 2017 through the FPSO Pioneiro de Libra and currently has two units of the definitive system in operation: FPSO Guanabara and FPSO Sepetiba, both with the same production capacity as the FPSO Duque de Caxias. The Libra Consortium is operated by Petrobras (40%) in partnership with Total (20%), Shell Brasil (20%), CNOOC Limited (10%), and CNPC (10%). Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) manages the Production Sharing Contract for the Libra block.

Currently at 18 apprentices, Forship Group reaffirms its commitment to helping educate those young professionals For 18 years, Forship Group has been contributing to the education of new professionals, giving young people between 14 and 24 years old their first job opportunity, while they are still in Elementary School, High School or after they complete High School, which is a great first job opportunity. “Finding a first job opportunity which respects the fact that young people are still under development, and which stimulates them to grow professionally and continue their studies – in addition to ensuring their rights – is the big challenge of many when joining the labor market”, says the Human Resources manager of Forship Group, Anita Figueiredo, highlighting the importance of companies embracing the Jovem Aprendiz (Young Apprentice) program. “Beyond filling out mandatory quotas, the Young Apprentice Program is a safe and effective way for the companies to contribute to such a challenging scenario,” she adds.  18 years of learning That is what Forship Group has been doing since 2006, when the program started in the company. In the first semester of 2024, 18 young apprentices integrate the company’s staff, with contracts ranging between 1 year and 6 months, average, depending on the duration of their programs. “The companies have a key role in this mechanism, and they should actively cooperate with the training of future professionals, disseminating the culture of the company and developing competences to enter the corporate world,” says the HR coordinator, Clarice Diniz. “When we understand this program in all its complexity, we start shaping our participation to effectively contribute to the social, educational and professional training of youths and teens of our country,” she adds. He emphasizes the many professionals started out as young apprentices and interns of Forship Group, and that for the Human Resources management, it is gratifying to see each one of them grow as people and as professionals. “Specially knowing that somehow our work contributed to that,” she observes.  The HR coordinator also stresses that in addition to the development provided by the course in which they are enrolled by law, Forship offers a series of courses for the development of young apprentices, with themes such as Written Communication and Corporate Communication, Financial Education and Planning, Basic and Intermediate Excel, among others. “This year, we have news: the Recebendo meu jovem aprendiz (Receiving Young Apprentices) Workshop, destined to managers, so that they feel more prepared to delegate, manage and develop those professionals,” concludes Clarice Diniz.

Contract Marks HMSWeb’s Entry into the Power Transmission Sector. HMSWeb Tecnologia da Informação has signed a licensing and services contract with ISA CTEEP, which is responsible for transporting 30% of all electricity produced in Brazil annually and 60% of the energy consumed in the Southeast region. The scope of this first contract with a power distribution concessionaire includes HMSWeb©—Handover Management System—services such as configuration, training, and support. “ISA CTEEP chose HMSWeb© as the tool for planning and managing commissioning activities carried out by the company’s Asset Integration department. This contract reflects the recognition of our solution’s excellence by the energy sector,” celebrates Luciano Gaete, Director of HMSWeb Tecnologia da Informação. The company aims to maximize transparency and traceability of project records/certificates during the transfer of installations and their subsequent acceptance by the Operations and Maintenance departments by adopting HMSWeb©. “We will ensure that the client has a specialized information systems administrator for HMSWeb to handle the implementation, configuration, user training, and support of our software in the company’s projects, as per each project’s needs and ISA CTEEP’s requirements,” explains Paulo Garcia, Sales Advisor. “Currently, the Asset Integration department uses MS Office 365 spreadsheets and standardized documents and manually prepares reports in MS Power BI. While the procedures meet the department’s needs, the manual process for collecting information is overly labor-intensive and requires significant attention from the team,” he notes, explaining that the tool is being utilized by ISA CTEEP’s Engineering and Projects Management in Jundiaí (SP). Energy Giant ISA CTEEP is the name adopted by Companhia de Transmissão de Energia Elétrica Paulista S.A. after it came under the control of the Colombian ISA – Interconexión Eléctrica S.A.E.S.P., one of the largest power transmission groups in Latin America, with Eletrobras, Brazil’s largest energy company, as a partner in the country. Operating in 18 states, its electrical system comprises over 31,000 km of circuits (about 28,000 in operation and 3,400 under construction), including both proprietary and jointly controlled assets, and 137 substations (129 operational and eight under construction). The company’s client base includes 68 distributors, 1,287 generators and self-producers, and 139 free consumers (data as of December 2022).

Contracts signed with Petrobras lead the team and the expertise of Forship Group to offshore units of the two largest production basins in Brazil  orship Group signed two more contracts with Petrobras which allowed our team to show its expertise and excellence: we will run the operation and maintenance tasks of the high-ranking cranes, cargo-handling equipment and accessories, and industrial cleaning for ten offshore units operating in the basins of Campos and Santos. Those production platforms are under management of the Business Units of Espírito Santo (UN-ES) and Santos (UN-BS).  Forship’s teams will be responsible for receiving and shipping cargo in five platforms (called replicas, as they have the same design) which operate in the pre-salt of Santos basin — P-66, P-67 and P-69 (Tupi), P-68 (Berbigão and Sururu) and P-70 (Atapu), under the management of UN-BS — and five operational units in the Roncador field, in the Campos basin — P-52, P-54, P-55 and P-62 and the Maintenance and Safety Unit (UMS), managed by UN-ES.  “This activity is essential to the operation of an offshore unit in oil and gas production,” notes the director of Operations at Forship, Marco A. Kronemberger, reminding us that Forship will also provide steel cables for future replacement to the cranes only in the Roncador field. “The biggest challenges are keeping the inventory of cargo handling equipment and accessories in the minimum amounts required and in perfect usage conditions, including compliance certificates, as well as having the team training and refreshed as per the several Regulating Standards and applicable procedures,” he points out, saying that it is a high-risk operation. Industry reliability Forship should initially have a team of about 230 people (118 in units managed by UN-ES and 112 in those of UN-BS), which may increase throughout the 50 months of the contract, to supply demands of the UMS. “We are already used to long-lasting contracts, which reflect the reliability of Forship in the market,” observes Kronemberger. He reminds us that the company has operated cranes for Petrobras in the BGL-1, maintained the cranes of those very platforms in the Santos basin. Currently, it operates and maintains cranes in the platforms along the coast of Sergipe.  The Operations director explains that the replicas, several of them positioned among the greatest producers in the country, have modern cranes, which requires their operators to have broad experience and specific training. “Which occasionally demands training in drills,” he explains. “But Forship was very well assessed in the previous contract. That means that the client’s expectations are high and puts an even greater responsibility upon the project team,” he adds. “Due to the size and number of the units those contracts involve, we can consider a significant increase in portfolio,” states Kronemberger. With the new contracts, Forship Group is even further consolidated as a provider of operation and maintenance services in the oil and gas industry, with a good quality perception by the clients. “They represent a great responsibility with the client and the assurance that we are strong competitors in the market,” he completes.