Ocyan, an oil and gas company with a sustainable attitude and knowledge to provide solutions for the industry, has announced that a Solstad Offshore's vessel has arrived in Brazil, ready to perform decommissioning activities.

The Normand Cutter, which is under Ocyan’s management, will perform decommissioning work on Petrobras subsea structures at Campos Basin and Sergipe-Alagoas. The vessel finally arrived earlier in January after the contract was awarded last year.

Normand Cutter is an offshore construction vessel (OCV) of 127.5 m long, equipped with a crane presenting lifting capacity for 300 tons, in addition to a flexible pipe lay system of up to 100 tons and pipe storage of up to 1250 tons. The ship has a crew capacity of 114 people, however Ocyan’s onboard team will be composed of 23 people.

The vessel arrived in Brazil after beginning its journey in Norway. On 12 December 2022, Normand Cutter departed from the country onto Scotland where collection and pipe lay systems were deployed. Now in Brazil, the vessel will perform the first campaign for the collection of equipment at Campos Basin, where it will remain for two weeks to then unload the structures at Vitória (ES). At the end of this first stage, still at Espírito Santo, it will perform the last stage of equipment deployment – rollers and reels for storage of flexible pipes – necessary for the sequence of the project.

André Luiz Magalhães, Executive Manager for Subsea Construction at Ocyan, commented, “This is the first decommissioning contract for offshore production fields in Brazil and we can say that we are at the forefront when it comes to the national production chain. The project will give us experience and a great expertise. This project marks the return of Ocyan to the subsea construction area. We expect a bright future with new opportunities in other companies, including international operators.

“After all this trajectory, in February, Normand Cutter will start to operate definitely at Campos Basin, collecting structures of FPSO Cidade do Rio de Janeiro and FPSO Cidade de Rio das Ostras, and in the second semester, it will initiate the work at Sergipe Alagoas Basin, in the area of the FPSO Piranema. All material will be treated and sent for recycling. Offshore services under the contract will last for approximately one and a half years,” explained the executive.

Rafael Guigon, Director for Subsea Construction Contracts at Ocyan, added, “For Ocyan, the presence of the Normand Cutter in its fleet is a strategic point and will provide a window of opportunity for new subsea construction contracts. From now on, we can search for other projects that require this kind of asset as a work tool for activities performed in this area. This vessel will allow the execution of simultaneous projects.”