FEBRUARY 7, 2013—Under contracts worth $160 million, ABB, Zurich, Switzerland, will design, supply, supervision of installation, testing and commissioning of the main electrical systems for seven next generation drill ships that are being built in the Brazil.

The DP3 drillships will be used to drill wells in the enormous offshore pre-salt fields off the southeast coast of Brazil. ABB’s integrated electrical package will provide a reliable power supply to subsystems onboard ships and help the operators maximize their energy efficiency.

The seven vessels are the first in a series of high-efficiency drill ships designed to operate in waterdepths of 10,000 ft and drill to depths of 40,000 ft for ultra-deep water operations and built by Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz at their shipyard on the central eastern coast of Espirito Santo, Brazil, a wholly-owned of Singapore's Jurong Shipyard.

Above, artist's concept of the DP3 ultra-deepwater drillships that will be built in Brazil by Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz. The first of seven will be delivered in 2015

“ABB’s ability to provide locally produced content for this project and the expertise of our local organization were important factors in winning this order. This represents a breakthrough for ABB in the Brazilian market,” says Veli-Matti Reinikkala, Head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “ABB has a great record of project execution for similar projects with Jurong’s shipyard in Singapore; the trust achieved over time with the shipyard was crucial for us in closing this agreement.”

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.  All ABB solutions meet or exceed IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and the customer’s standards for safety, and are in full compliance with strict IMO (International Maritime Organization) regulations to ensure uninterrupted drilling operations. 

Equipment deliveries to the shipyard are scheduled for 2013, with the first vessel to be delivered to the ship-owner in the second quarter of 2015.

When delivered to Sete Brazil, the seven drill-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 Norwegian based companies.