Client: International FPSO Operator
Industry: FPSO
Asset: FPSO unit for Brazil deployment
Location: Europe
Year: 2017

Challenge

An FPSO operator needed to adapt one of their FPSO units to the specific requirements of the Brazilian Regulatory Standards (NRs, IBAMA, NORMAM, etc) to prepare for an upcoming contract offshore Brazil. Due to lack of knowledge over this scope, as the vessel has been deployed in the North Sea for the past 29 years, the client has invited the Axess Group to perform an audit of the vessel during its redeployment works in Europe.

Solution

The safety regulation for vessels operating in Brazilian jurisdiction waters are regulated by the Consolidation of Labor Laws and by Norma Regulamentadoras (NR). These mandatory legislatives require the utmost safety of equipment such as lifting equipment, boilers, pressure vessels, piping, and electrical installations. Axess project managed a turnkey solution covering all NRs, IBAMA and NORMAM scopes during the unit’s shipyard stay in Europe.

With collaborative support from Brazil, Norway and Singapore office, Brazilian CREA engineers were deployed from February to December 2017 to carry out the inspections and certifications. Necessary workshops, design review, risk assessment, technical analysis, site inspections and safety concept of the equipment and machineries were carried out to ensure that they are in conformity to the various Brazilian regulations before sailing to Brazil.

Results

All the punches related to Brazilian Compliance were identified and closed during the duration of the project. Axess’ excellent HSE, technical expertise, professionalism and clear communication process exceeded the client’s expectations. The vessel’s Chief Mate said: “I must say that I am highly impressed by all the efforts that the team has put in for last few days and not least today having the audit completed in half a day whereas originally we had allocated total 2 days.”