Next-generation drilling ships for Brazil

The vessels are the first in a series of high-efficiency drilling ships designed for ultra-deepwater oil and gas operations. They will be used to drill wells in the offshore pre-salt fields off the southeast coast of Brazil.  The ships will be delivered to Sete Brazil, a company established in 2010 by various Brazilian and international investors. Upon delivery, the seven drilling ships will be chartered to Petrobras for 15 years. Three of the ships will be partially owned and operated for Petrobas by Odfjell and three by Seadrill, both Norway-based companies.
The power and automation technology group ABB will provide the design, supply, supervision of installation, testing and commissioning of the main electrical systems of the vessels.
The orders, which the company recently announced, were booked in the fourth quarter of last year and first quarter of this year.
ABB’s scope of supply includes complete electrical systems including generators, distribution switchboards, transformers, drives and motors to power the ships’ thrusters and drilling systems.  
Equipment deliveries to the shipyard are scheduled for 2013, with the first vessel to be delivered to the shipowner in the second quarter of 2015.