Our expertise is on board Petrobras platforms

The Forship Group has been executing two contracts with Petrobras that have enabled our team to show its expertise and excellence: we have carried out operation services and first-level maintenance tasks for cranes, cargo handling equipment and accessories, industrial cleaning and helipad trim for nine offshore units that are operating in the Espírito Santo and Santos basins.

The Forship teams are responsible for receiving and sending cargo on five platforms (called replicants because they have the same design) operating in the pre-salt Santos Basin – P-66, P-67 and P-69 (Tupi), P-68 (Berbigão and Sururu) and P-70 (Atapu) and four units in the Espírito Santo Basin – P-52, P-54, P-55 and P-62 (Roncador), as well as a Maintenance and Safety Unit (UMS).

“This is an essential activity for the operation of an offshore oil and gas production unit,” says Forship’s Operations Director, Marco Kronemberger, noting that Forship will also make the steel cables available for future replacements for the cranes in the Roncador field.

“The biggest challenges are keeping the inventory of load handling equipment and accessories in the minimum quantities required and in perfect condition for use, including certificates of conformity, as well as having the team trained and retrained in accordance with the requirements of the various Regulatory Standards and the Brazilian Navy and applicable procedures,” he said, noting that this was a high-risk operation.

Industry reliability

Forship has a team of around 230 people (118 UN-ES and 112 UN-BS), which can be increased depending on demand over the 50-month duration of the contract (the UN-ES contract started in February 2024 and the UN-BS in March of the same year). “We’re used to long-term contracts, which reflect the market’s reliability in Forship,” says Kronemberger.

He recalls that the company has already operated cranes for Petrobras on the BGL-1 and carried out maintenance on the cranes of these same platforms in the Santos Basin. He currently operates and maintains cranes on platforms off the coast of Sergipe.

The Operations Director explains that the replicants, several of which are positioned among the largest producers in the country, have modern cranes, which requires their operators to have extensive experience and specific training. “This may require training in simulators,” he explains. “But Forship was highly rated in the previous contract. This means that the client’s expectations are high and places even greater responsibility on the project team,” he adds. “Due to the large size and number of units that these contracts encompass, we can consider it a significant increase in our portfolio,” says Kronemberger.

With the new contracts, the Forship Group is further consolidating its position as a company that provides operation and maintenance services in the Oil & Gas (O&G) industry, with a good perception of quality on the part of its clients. “They represent a huge responsibility to the client and confirmation to the market that we are strong competitors in the sectors in which we operate,” he concludes.