Ultratec expands Rio shipyard

Brazilian engineering company Ultratec will invest $7.8 million to expand its shipyard in Rio de Janeiro state in preparation for the construction of the P-53 FPSO. Federal energy company Petrobras will lease the FPSO from special purposed company CDC. Ultratec is part of the Quip consortium that CDC has hired to carry out the P-53’s topside assembly.

Ultratec plans to expand its shipyard’s area to 78,000 sq m from 45,000 sq m and increase the length of the shipyard quay to 50m from 30m and its depth to 7m from 6m. Part of the P-53 topside will be built in Rio de Janeiro and part in Rio Grande do Sul state. The hull will come from Singapore, where shipbuilder Keppel is converting an existing oil tanker into the FPSO.

Overall construction is scheduled to be completed in September 2007, when the FPSO will be towed to the deepwater Marlim Leste field in the Campos basin.