Petrobas contract

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a £38m contract from Petrobas to supply an anchor-handling system that will secure floating oil platforms to the seabed off the coast of Brazil.

The newly-developed system will be fitted to two vessels' serving platforms, which are currently under construction by STX Brazil Offshore. Each vessel will carry more than 1,000 tonnes of Rolls-Royce equipment, including 130-tonne winches designed for the manoeuvre and installation of torpedo anchors at depths of more than 3,000m.

As well as winches, Rolls-Royce will supply stern rollers, handling cranes, towing and stopping pins, and a pennant winder and spooling sheave. Each vessel will also feature a deck-machinery package to improve safety operations at seas.

Ottar Antonsen, Rolls-Royce sales manager for deck machinery, said: ‘We have been part of the Brazilian offshore market for more than 25 years, and this latest contract demonstrates customer confidence in the capabilities of our equipment.

'As oil and gas exploration focuses on more extreme locations around the world, we've responded by leading the technological developments that will enable oil companies to extract oil in the most challenging of seabed conditions.