FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela Arrives in Brazil for Topsides Integration

After a 10,625 nautical mile voyage from China, SBM Offshore’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel Cidade de Ilhabela berthed safely at the Niteroi-Rio based Brasa yard this past Sunday.

SBM Offshore notes that the integration of the bare hull and topsides will commence at Brasa – a two-year old joint venture construction shipyard between SBM Offshore and Synergy – where 10 of the vessel’s 18 production modules have been built.

“The yard has been up and running since July 2012 and Ilhabela is the yard’s first project with ten modules weighing a total of about 12,500 tonnes being built here” says Project Manager Martijn Kleijn. Cidade de Ilhabela is the first FPSO to be integrated at Brasa’s quay number two. Three additional modules were constructed and delivered by EBSE, a Rio yard that SBM works closely with as part of its development of solid local content solutions.

Once in operation FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela will be SBM’s largest FPSO with a total of 22,000 tonnes in topsides. She is the company’s second vessel in the Generation 3 model, engineered to the specifications of the pre-salt fields offshore Brazil. The first is FPSO Cidade de Paraty which achieved first oil in June 2013. The next pair of SBM’s Generation 3 FPSOs under way are FPSOs Cidade de Maricá and Cidade de Saquarema also for offshore Brazil.

“The arrival of FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela to Brazil represents a newsworthy double milestone for SBM Offshore. Firstly the success of SBM’s global project management of her conversion at the CXG yard in China. Secondly as joint venture partners with Synergy in Brasa shipyard we are very proud to welcome her to the quayside for the final integration of ten of her 18 modules, which were built here at Brasa in Niteroi, Rio,” Philippe Levy, Country Director Brazil.

Conversion work on the hull was completed in October 2013 in China and she set sail in November for Brasa shipyard.

About FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela

Location: BM-S-9 block – Sapinhoá Field

Partners: Petrobras (45%), BG E&P BRASIL LTDA (30%) and REPSOL YPF BRASIL S.A. (25%), FPSOs will be owned and operated by a Joint Venture company owned by SBM Offshore with other partners including Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás S.A.(QGOG).