Wilson Sons Vessel Converted in Brazil

A platform supply vessel (PSV) owned and operated by Wilson Sons UltraTug Offshore has been converted to a shallow dive support vessel (SDSV) for a Petrobras job offshore Brazil.

The vessel, Fulmar, needed an upgrade from DP1 to DP2 Class notation, and the work was completed in April by Wilson Sons Estaleiros in partnership with Damen at the Wilson Sons shipyards in Guarujá.

Damen said it carried out quick scan and later a feasibility study for the project before Wilson Sons had been awarded the contract.

Daniel Pereira, Maintenance Manager said, “The project was not without its challenges. For one thing, in order to have the vessel ready in time for its contractual obligation with Petrobras we had just six months to fulfill the entire project scope.”

This included engineering, work preparation, material deliveries, installation and FMEA testing. As well as the initial study, Damen’s scope was engineering, integration and site management of the DP2 upgrade.

“Another challenging aspect of the project was that it involved the close cooperation of multiple partners, among them: two Wilson Sons Companies, Damen Services and DTC, Van der Leun, WEG, Rolls Royce, Kongsberg, Brunvoll, Lloyds, Noble Denton and LOC. To make sure this went smoothly, we established clear demarcation of responsibilities for each partner from the outset and held regular integration meetings. During the engineering phase this meant weekly integration meetings to monitor progress and avoid changes in scope as far as was possible. Later, during execution, operational progress meetings were held on a daily basis.”

After finishing extended Petrobras tests, the vessel has been accepted and went successfully into operation early May.