Wärtsilä lands FPSO operation and maintenance job off Brazil

Finland-headquartered technology group Wärtsilä has been picked to operate power modules onboard a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, working offshore Brazil. In addition, the Finnish player inked a long-term optimised maintenance agreement with 3R Petroleum, a Brazilian offshore operator.

Wärtsilä revealed on Wednesday, 12 April 2023, that it would operate – on behalf of the owner, 3R Petroleum – the power modules onboard the P-63 FPSO, which works at the Papa Terra oilfield, located at a water depth of 1,200 meters. This is part of the BC-20 concession and it started operating in 2013.

Additionally, the Finnish firm signed a five-year optimised maintenance agreement with 3R Petroleum to ensure the reliability and performance of the installation. According to the company, the order was included in its order book in December 2022.

Furthermore, Wärtsilä highlights that its optimised maintenance agreements provide long-term cost predictability and asset availability with data-driven maintenance used at every stage, from planning to execution.

The firm explains that support is delivered at Wärtsilä’s Expertise Centres to optimise maintenance intervals and prevent unscheduled downtime, allowing “customers to focus on their core business.”

Humberto Romanus, Facilities Manager for 3R Petroleum, remarked: “We are pleased to have Wärtsilä as a skilled and experienced partner in operating and maintaining this FPSO. We feel that they are clearly the most qualified company for this project, and we look forward to working with them.”

The Papa Terra field was owned by Petrobras before 3R Petroleum completed the acquisition of the field in December 2022. Wärtsilä had an earlier agreement with Petrobras and the P-63 FPSO has three power modules, each with two Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines. Under the new contract, the Finnish player will continue to have an onboard crew operating the modules on a 24/7 basis.

When it comes to the optimised maintenance agreement, Wärtsilä will monitor the engine performance remotely enabled by the cyber secure connectivity solution. The company claims that the time between overhauls can be optimised with dynamic maintenance planning, providing flexibility for scheduling maintenance.

Carlos Mikus, Lifecycle Sales Manager at Wärtsilä, commented: “We have been involved with this vessel since the beginning when it was owned by the Petrobras group. We are very happy to continue this cooperation with the new owners.”

Wärtsilä has secured several new assignments recently. In line with this, the Finnish firm was hired to supply the engines for four new 7999 dwt chemical tankers being built for Erik Thun, a Swedish fleet owner. The vessels will operate with the Wärtsilä 25 engine, the future-fuels-ready latest addition to the company’s engine portfolio.