BraziI: InterMoor Breaks Mooring Depth Record

InterMoor beats mooring depth record for Brazil as part of a one-year project to provide mooring and positioning support operations for Shell do Brasil, InterMoor do Brasil Ltda (InterMoor), an Acteon company, has recently beaten the depth record for conventional mooring offshore Brazil with a water depth of 2027 m.

The project is for the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) Noble Clyde Boudreaux and will run until the middle of 2012. Operations focus on the Campos and Santos basins, but could be in any location off Brazil’s southeast coast in water depths ranging from 600 to 2300 m. Andre Oliveira, project manager, InterMoor said, “We are committed to delivering safe, efficient and cost-effective mooring operations in support of this drilling campaign. There are challenges, so we have worked with Shell to plan everything in minute detail. This planning is essential if we are to continually break new boundaries such as the previous water depth record for conventional mooring offshore Brazil at 2015 m. (well depth) and two of the eight anchors moored at 2027 m.”

The contract covers the provision of engineering mooring analysis reports and conventional mooring. InterMoor designs mooring patterns for the Noble Clyde Boudreaux at every drilling rig location. This involves a mix of open-water exploration work and mooring around subsea assets.

InterMoor assisted Shell in defining the anchor-handling vessel specifications for the programme based on the final mooring system design and supplies mooring coordinators, engineers and survey personnel on the rig and anchor-handling vessels to supervise and direct mooring system deployment, retrieval and connection to the rig. Because of the water depths and the high loads, the anchor-handling vessels are high power with bollard pulls of 265 Mt and are fitted with 3000-m work wires. The planning also considered the availability of mooring element spares as a critical measure to prevent unexpected major delays to operations.

InterMoor also participates in planning workshops and advises Shell and Noble staff on mooring optimisation. Siebe Viersen, senior drilling supervisor, Shell Brasil Ltda said, “We would like to recognize InterMoor for their excellent performance during the NCB rig moves while  on contract with Shell. The anchor handling operations were well managed and executed without any HSE related incident and well within the time allocated for the activity.”

As part of the efforts to continuously improve operations, InterMoor delivers after-action reviews on completion of each job. The company also maintains and repairs Shell-procured pre- installed mooring systems when necessary, and advises Shell on component replacement. Under the terms of the contract, InterMoor performs and coordinates inspection of mooring components as necessary during the drilling programme in accordance with the requirements of the API RP 2I recommended practice.

“The contract, which was won in 2006 for the Arctic 1 MODU and varied in 2011 for the Noble Clyde Boudreaux, significantly underlines InterMoor’s strong presence and rapid growth in Brazil. We have recently acquired a dockside area facility at Port of Açu in the northern part  of Rio de Janeiro state. This will enable us to improve the logistics of future mooring and installation projects further. The expansion reflects the efficiency of our service and the high standards to which we work. These are crucial factors in earning and maintaining a positive reputation with our clients,” Oliveira concludes.

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Source: InterMoor, April 17, 2012