OceanPact is intensifying its investment in team training, vessels, equipment and special tools in order to expand its range of subsea operation services. This investment reflects the significant growth of activities in Brazil’s oil and gas sector, resulting from exploration and production projects involving Petrobras and foreign companies in the Santos, Campos and Espírito Santo basins.

Having acquired five remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), OceanPact will offer the market the full range of underwater vehicle operation services for subsea activities, using its own vessels, equipment and labor. In response to demand, the company has been recruiting and training professionals to pilot the acquired equipment.

ROVs are remotely operated robots, with a system to relay data to the surface and a power supply via an umbilical cable that also transmits telemetry and video signals. They are operated by pilots and navigate as deep as 3,000 meters in response to commands carried out on the surface, on board ships and platforms. Their navigational movements are triggered by hydraulic or electric thrusters. Different models are classified according to the tasks they perform. ROVs are used intensively in offshore projects in the oil industry and in the military area. They range from simple observation vehicles to sophisticated, large-scale equipment equipped with various sensors, manipulators, tools and cameras.

These new ROVs will be in use as of April 2022, to perform services covered by four contracts with Petrobras. The Austral Abrolhos vessel will be used for the first contract. Another contract provides for the use of the Parcel das Timbebas ship and a subsea vehicle operated by the OceanPact team. The Parcel do Bandolim and Larissa ships, each with two ROVs on board, will be used for the two other contracts. They can be operated simultaneously. This requires expertise and will significantly boost productivity for both the client and OceanPact.