Oct 10, 2011

The BNDES approved financing of US$ 226 million for the STX OSV Niterói S.A. shipyard to construct three ships to support oil platforms. The vessels were ordered by DOF Navegação Ltda, a shipowner. With total investment of US$ 390 million, the project is part of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) and financing is from the Merchant Marine Fund (FMM).

These three vessels will supply part of the demand for offshore support ships that provide services to offshore oil platforms in the Brazilian continental shelf. They are part of the Petrobras program to expand and modernize the marine support fleet.

The STX Group is one of the leading construction firms specialized in offshore support ships in the country, not only because of its experience in the construction of hulls, but also for its high level embedded technology.

Among the merits of the project, those that stand out include the development and technological capability of shipyards in building large-sized and high-technology ships; and the maintenance of approximately 1,400 jobs during construction.

The vessels are the AHTS-18000 type, identified by hulls PRO-30, PRO-31 and PRO-33. The AHTS (Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel) is a vessel to support oil exploration and production platforms, which is intended to handle anchors, towing and supplies. It is one of the largest and most modern vessels of its kind to ever be built in Brazil. Its most notable advantage is the winch, technologically sophisticated equipment that provides the vessel a static traction ability of 250 tons, well above the market average (150 tons).

With a total length of 93.5 meters and deadweight of 4,200 tons, each vessel has hybrid propulsion systems, with facilities for two main diesel mechanic engines, as well as for two main diesel electric engines.

Among the equipment of ships to be built, highlights include the dynamic positioning systems (DP-20), radar, satellite navigator, autopilot and turning pilot, echosounder and radio.