Davie Industries News

The past decade was a tough one for the Canadian shipbuilding market. It was a decade that produced a decline of both employment and decline of newbuilds, many of which were contracted in the late 1980s still awaiting construction. This unfinished business was concentrated mostly on various military projects that had been thought out but were never actually followed through. It is estimated that by the time the 1990's came to a close that Canadian yards had experienced the worst decade since postwar times with total sales declining by about 50 percent since 1991. In addition, total employment in the industry has broken off by about 50 percent from 12,000 workers in 1990 to today's figure of 5,000.

The large semi-submersible production platform formerly known as Spirit of Columbus was rechristened Petrobras 36 on August 31. Following two years of diligent work by more than 1,300 engineers, technicians and specialized Davie Industries workers, the completely refitted platform will soon be the stand-out platform of the Brazilian fleet. With a capacity of 180,000 barrels of crude oil a day and 7.2 million cu.m. of gas per day, Petrobras 36 has the potential to be one of the most productive platforms in the world. Able to operate at depths of more than 4,429 ft. (1,350 m) in the Roncador oilfield located 125 km off the coast of Brazil…

Petrobras 36, the 31,183 ton Offshore Oil and Gas Platform left Sept-Iles, Quebec for Brazil on November 11. The Floating Production System is recorded as the heaviest load ever carried by a submersible heavy lift vessel. Performed by Dockwise of Belgium, the operation entailed the usage of the company's Modern Servant I heavy lift ship and the vessel, together with its large cargo, was scheduled to arrive in Rio de Janeiro by mid-November. Formerly known as the Spirit of Columbus, Petrobras 36 had been at Quebec City Davie Industries undergoing upgrades for the past two years — making the vessel into one of the largest platform of its kind. When in operation at the Roncador Field located offshore Brazil, the vessel will produce 180,000 barrels of oil and 7.2 MM cu.

Manhattan’s University Club served as the setting for a Marine Money-sponsored financial conference, an event that attracted some of the world’s leading ship owners, financiers and legal minds to New York City to discuss opportunities in the U.S. Most of the talk centered on the blue-water, deep-draft end of the market, and was financially orientated (except for Jack Berglund of Davie Industries, introduced as the “lone engineer” on the speaker roster to the bemusement of the 150 in attendance. Jack had some interesting news from Canada, specifically a discussion on financial aid available from the Canadian federal and provincial powers — aid geared to luring ship construction projects up north ... but that will be covered in the December edition!).