No 1 • 2006

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VISION Prosafe shall be a leading and

innovative supplier of technology and services in selected niches of

the global oil and gas industry.

MISSIONBy providing our clients with innovative

and cost-efficient solutions, Prosafe shallmaximise shareholder value and create a

challenging and motivating workplace.

CORE VALUESProfitability

Respect InnOvation

Safety Ambition

Focus Environment

Prosafe NOWis published two to three times a year

for our employees, clients, vendors and other key audiences.

Submit ideas, comments and articles for the next issue to:

Karine Cosemansdepartment manager corporate relations

karine.cosemans@prosafe.com

EDITORKarine Cosemans

PRODUCTIONPrinters AS

Photo page 2: Kjetil AlsvikPage 5: Shell

VISIT OUR WEB SITEwww.prosafe.com

RESPONSIBLE PUBLISHERProsafe ASA

Risavika havnering 224P.O. Box 143, N-4098 Tananger

Phone: +47 51 64 25 00Fax: +47 51 64 25 01

In the end of April, Prosafepresented its result for the firstquarter of 2006. First-class operatingregularity and solid performances byour people yielded the best firstquarter result in our history. Wehave laid a sound basis for goodearnings in the years to come.

Rooted in our visionWe have devoted considerableresources since our foundation in1997 to living up to our vision ofbeing “a leading and innovativeprovider of technology and services in selected niches of the global oiland gas industry”. This has been aconscious commitment over the years.Our Floating Production division is aleading supplier of FPSOs and FSOsand Offshore Support Services ranksas the world’s leading supplier ofaccommodation/ service rigs.

ConsolidationProsafe owns eight of the world’s 16semi-submersible accommodation/service rigs. On 3 May 2006, weentered into an agreement with J. Christer Ericsson and associatedcompanies (JCE) for the acquisition of 13 435 450 shares in ConsafeOffshore AB (Consafe), representing48.353 per cent of the shares ofConsafe. It is our intention to acquire100 per cent of Consafe. Consafeowns three semi-submersibleaccommodation/service rigs and one accommodation/service jack-up.The acquisition of Consafe sharesconfirms Prosafe’s communicated

strategy of consolidating the marketfor semi-submersible accommoda-tion/service rigs, and will strengthenour leading position in this market.

Deliver what we promiseProsafe has a strong track record of delivering high-quality services atthe agreed time and price. Our FPSOoperations rank as one of the best inclass, as uptime has systematicallyimproved and in fact exceeded 99per cent in 2005.

Offshore Support Services has latelysuccessfully conducted two deman-ding projects: Safe Scandinavia usedan innovative anchoring method atthe Mars TLP in the US Gulf in awater depth of nearly 1 000m, andMSV Regalia has been performingfaultlessly in Angola after a deman-ding mobilisation that was comple-ted incident free and on schedule.

Floating Production in Singapore iscurrently converting two vessels toFPSOs for operations at the Polvofield off Brazil and at the Tui field off New Zealand respectively. Theseprojects are being carried out duringa period of intense activity in theoffshore and ship building industries.Managing a controlled and cost-effective implemenation of conver-sion projects is a key part of our corecompetence. The engineering depart-ments are doing a good job, and ourin-house project management isdemonstrating professional projectmanagement skills.

Enhancingour leading position

Well positionedThe outlook for the 2006-08 period isvery positive. Offshore SupportServices has secured a rig utilisationof about 94 per cent in 2006 andabout 80 per cent in 2007, but stillhas vessel availability in 2007 and2008. The division’s fleet consiststoday of five units with dynamicpositioning systems and three mooredunits, and is well adapted to marketneeds. An acquisition of Consafe willincrease the rig fleet with four unitsto a total of 12, and will give us aneven stronger competitive position.

Activity in the market for FloatingProduction is greater than ever. Atotal of 10 projects were awarded in2005, and the same number of new

awards is expected for 2006. The highlevel of activity in the drilling marketis a strong indicator of substantialfield developments in 2007 and 2008.FPSOs are a unique field developmentconcept for deep water and forregions where existing infrastructureis limited. Prosafe has built up longexperience in converting andoperating FPSOs, and now has anorganisation able to handle severalconversion projects in parallel.Floating Production’s target is to wina large new project during 2006, andis strongly placed to secure its shareof the growing market.

Bright prospectsThe prospects for our business arevery positive. Our portfolio of

contracts, high oil prices and thegeneral outlook for the industryencourage an optimistic view ofcoming years.

Our purposeful commitment hasyielded good results. I am confidentthat, through our long experience, ahigh level of expertise, solid marketpositions and financial strength, wewill maintain and further strengthenour leading positions. Rooted in ourvision, a clear strategy and goodoperations, we will continue ourpositive development.

Arne AustreidPresident and CEO

Prosafe’s Ambassador-prize

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The prize is a gift voucher and asculpture that will be in the winner’spossession for one year, and there-after will be passed on to next year’swinner. The sculpture is made by theartist Gøril Førsund and is a miniatureof “The Pilot”, which is a statue inTananger, Norway. On one side, thepilot symbolises Prosafe’s deep rootsin Tananger where the company since1972 has had its headquarters. On theother side, the pilot is the personwho guides others through unknownwaters and into a safe harbour.

The person who submits the winningproposal will also receive a giftvoucher.

Who should receive Prosafe’sAmbassador-prize for 2005?We wish to highlight the efforts ofthose who through their activitiescontribute to build a corporate identity we all can be proud of. Pleasesend a well-founded proposal to:Prosafe ASAattn.: Karine Cosemansfax no.: +47 51 64 25 66e-mail: karine.cosemans@prosafe.comby 31 July 2006

All proposals will be evaluated by a jury consisting of the corporatemanagement. The name of thewinner(s) will be made public in the next edition of Prosafe NOW.

Prosafe’s Ambassador-prize will this year be awarded for the fifth time. By awarding the prize, we wish torecognise the efforts of a single person, a group ofemployees, a department or an operation that throughthe previous year in an excellent way has promoted oneor several of Prosafe’s core values.

Americo Santos, Prosafe Production’sbase manager in Abidjan in theIvory Coast was awarded theProsafe Ambassador Prize for 2004.

Katrina’s impactOn 29th August 2005, HurricaneKatrina stormed into the Gulf ofMexico, causing catastrophic damagealong the coastlines of Mississippi andLouisiana. Offshore, the damage tothe oil fields was just as devastating,with rigs cast adrift from mooringsand some disappearing altogether. Oiland gas transportation infrastructurewas affected throughout the area.

One platform to sustain severedamage was Shell’s Mars TLP. Despitebeing constructed to withstandhurricane force winds to 140 mph and 71 ft waves, the drilling topsides

package and drill tower weredestabilised by the onslaught, causingthem to topple over onto the plat-form. It was therefore essential torestore the platform and recommenceproduction as quickly as possible.

The responseShell recognised that to accomplishrecovery within an acceptabletimescale, a large offshore workforcewould have to be mobilised – aworkforce that would needaccommodation.

With their successful experience of the Safe Caledonia’s presence at

Shell Bonga to draw upon, Shellapproached Prosafe Offshore to see if an accommodation solution couldbe found for the Mars TLP.

The Safe Scandinavia, about tocomplete a contract for Conoco-Phillips at the Britannia field, wouldsoon be available. However, the vesselutilised a twelve-point mooringsystem and had no propulsion. As the Mars TLP was in a water depthof nearly 1000 metres – and no vesselhad ever been moored alongside aTLP in such an environment for aprolonged period – this presented a major technical challenge.

Mooring challengesProsafe despatched a team to Shell’sHouston office to discuss how thechallenges related to mooring andrelative movement could be met.

The mooring analysis was complex,but after considerable deliberation it was agreed that the west side ofthe platform would represent theoptimum mooring position. Suctionanchors would be pre-laid with ashort connecting length of chain andthen fibre ropes through some 800m,with Prosafe’s own rig chain beingused for the final 200m.

Due to the deep water conditions, anew mooring pattern was required tomaximise the stability of the SafeScandinavia. A taut leg mooring wasagreed as a more effective alternativeto the traditional catenary mooring.

As the Safe Scandinavia prepares to disconnect from Shell’sMars TLP on the 15th May after a successful campaign inthe Mexican Gulf, John Watson, Safe Scandinavia’s VesselManager, reflects on this pioneering operation for Prosafe,involving the use of a moored vessel in deep water.

Life on Mars– Safe Scandinavia at Shell Mars TLP

Safe Scandinavia gangway-connected with Mars TLP.

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JohnWatson,

Safe Scandinavia’s

VesselManager

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Relative movementTo ensure maximum gangway uptimeand optimum productive time for theworkforce, the two units would needto remain coupled. As the Mars TLPcan roam to around 20m from itscentre point in any given direction, aviable method had to be found thatwould unite them.

The proposed solution was to tetherthe Mars TLP to the Safe Scandinaviaand then to pull the platform over by12m, thereby shifting the platformoff its natural centre in order todamp out some of the low frequencyplatform movements. This could beachieved by the Safe Scandinaviautilising her two forward winches sothat the vessel would, in effect, havea two-hawser connection to the plat-form and a ten-point mooring system.The hawsers required special design,too; if the material was too stiff, thetension would quickly rise when pul-led tight and if too soft, the systemwould have excessive flexibility.

Analysis confirmed the suitability ofthis approach, providing evidencethat the two units’ natural frequen-cies would be almost synchronised.

The transitWhilst this final analysis was beingcarried out, the Safe Scandinavia waspreparing to gangway disconnectfrom the Britannia Platform and headfor the US. The vessel set sail on 17th

October, under tow from the MaerskAchiever and the Bourbon Borgstein.

After a trip of just over a month, via Las Palmas and through theCaribbean, she arrived at GrandIsland 118, an offshore holding area.She had averaged a speed of 7.74knots – exceptional for a vessel withno propulsion.

With the enormous workload facingcompanies undertaking restorationactivities in the Gulf, it took until 22nd

December for the mooring to be inplace and for sufficient vessels to beavailable to take the Safe Scandinaviaonto the field. Finally, on 26th Decem-ber, the Mars TLP was successfullypulled towards the Safe Scandinaviawithout any accidents or incidents,ready for gangway connection.

The guestsWith many of the local workforceotherwise engaged in the personalrestoration of their devastated homes,Shell made up for the shortfall innumbers by supplementing the team with Filipinos, Mexicans andEuropeans. Ever mindful of workforcediversity and dietary requirementswhilst on contract, Shell requestedthat Prosafe provide for all palates.With four styles of cuisine to prepare– Filipino, American, Cajun andEuropean – the catering departmentrose to the challenge admirably.

With the POB sitting at 500, it wasnecessary to have onboard security.Through intelligent use of localsecurity officers, the OIM ensuredthat safety was upheld, gangway

operations ran smoothly and baggagesearches were conducted in a profes-sional manner.

Final thoughtsWith the contract now drawing to aclose, this operation has been a firstfor Prosafe in the US, but hopefullynot the last. Feedback has been verypositive: Prosafe has been well-received and the Safe Scandinaviadescribed as the best, “mostluxurious”, support vessel ever tohave operated in the region.

The vessel has provided excellentaccommodation in two-man cabins,with sufficient space for rest andrecreation. Performance of the work-force has increased over the durationof the contract, a phenomenon thatwas also noted during last year’s BGMiskar contract in Tunisian waters.This is a message worth conveying toother clients in future.

By successfully expediting thispioneering and innovative operation,Prosafe has demonstrated once againits willingness to respond proactivelyto the needs of its clients, even under the difficult and unforeseeablecircumstances which led to thiscontract award.

The captain and crew of the SafeScandinavia should be proud of theirachievements, attained throughcommitment, diligence and –together with their onshore co-workers – team work.

Mars TLP was heavily damaged by the Hurricane Katrina, but production has now been restored.

By John Matchett,project manager,Polvo develop-ment project

The build-upstarted in thesummer of 2005,when Prosafe bidfor several FPSO

conversion projects and was awardeda major front end engineering design(FEED) study. This challenged thecapacity of the existing engineering,HSEQA, operations and projectspersonnel. Additional staff wasrequired for the preparation of theFEED as well as in anticipation of newprojects, and recruitment started inAugust 2005.

First award – an FPSO for BrazilAnd then on 26 September 2005, ithappened. We received a Letter ofIntent from Devon Energy Americasfor the provision of an FPSO for theBM-C-8 Polvo field developmentlocated in the Campos Basin of Brazil.The FPSO will be a conversion basedon the M/T Apollo which had beenpurchased by Prosafe a month earlier.The M/T Apollo is a VLCC of 257 865dwt and was built by IHI of Japan in1981.

The FPSO Polvo will be located inapproximately 100m of water, 100kmoffshore in the Campos Basin. Thelease term is seven years with eight

one-year options, giving a requireddesign life of 15 years withoutdocking. The FPSO will be mooredusing an internal turret built toProsafe’s proprietary design. Inaddition to the usual processmodules, there will be three deck-mounted boilers and turbinealternators providing electrical powerto the FPSO and to an adjacentwellhead platform. Process capacity is150 000 barrels of fluids per day withoil production at 90 000 barrels perday. Storage available is 1.6 millionbarrels.

Second award – an FPSO for NewZealandA second project was awarded shortlyafter the first. On 18 November 2005,NZOP awarded the contract for theprovision of an FPSO for the Tui AreaDevelopment in New Zealand. ThisFPSO will be based on the M/TIonikos, a Suezmax tanker of some119 990 dwt which was built byMitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japanin 1981.

The FPSO Tui will be located in theTaranaki Basin off the coast of New

Embarking for Brazil and New ZealandProsafe Production was on 26 September 2005 awarded a Letter of Intent by DevonEnergy Americas for the provision of an FPSO for the Polvo field offshore Brazil. Eightweeks later, it was awarded a contract by New Zealand Overseas Petroleum (NZOP)for the provision of an FPSO for the Tui Area Development located in the North Westof New Zealand. In Singapore, the project teams began the race against time tocomplete these projects on time and within budget.

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The M/T Apollo is being converted to an FPSO for the Polvo field off Brazil.The conversion takes place in Keppel Shipyard, Singapore.

Plymouth in approximately 100m ofwater. The lease term is five yearsplus five one-year options, giving arequired design life of 10 yearswithout docking. As with the FPSOPolvo, the FPSO Tui will be mooredusing an internal turret built toProsafe’s proprietary design. Despitebeing a smaller vessel than the M/TApollo, the turret design of the twoships is very similar due to the loadsimposed on the FPSO Tui by theharsher metocean conditions aroundNew Zealand. Process capacity is 120 000 barrels of fluids per day withoil production at 50 000 per day andgas compression at 25mmscfd.Storage available is 773 000 barrels.

Intense recruitment driveProjects of this size require a lot ofmanpower, and the human resourcesdepartment approached the chal-lenge with great enthusiasm. In orderto cope with the intense recruitmentdrive, they first added to their ownresources by employing Teo Yun Linand her assistant Michelle Ng. Theyreceived requests for more peoplefrom various department heads, andengaged engineers of all disciplines,planners, cost controllers, quantitysurveyors, buyers, draftsmen, secre-taries and yet more engineers. People

were mobilised from around SouthEast Asia, Europe, Australia and theUnited States over a six-week period.By the end of October (for Polvo) andDecember (for Tui), all managementpositions in the project managementteams had been filled, and they werebusy building up their own individualteams. Yun Lin and Michelle havenow started a similar exercise to buildup further capacity to handlemultiple projects simultaneously.

With so many new staff, the companywas forced to expand the office. The projects and engineering depart-ments were relocated to another partof Prosafe Production’s head officebuilding in Singapore. Prosafe hadrecently taken over half of the ninthfloor of the Synergy building, whichwould be home for the two projectteams for the next 18 months. Thenew office has space for twodedicated project teams, includingclient offices, plus a pool of sharedengineering resources. Staff levels are expected to continue to increaseas the project moves into theconstruction phase. New recruits and a new office have given theProsafe office a new outlook and a sound base for further expansionon future projects.

Two vessels in the shipyardThe recruitment drive to build up theproject team and new offices werejust the first steps in the conversionof the M/T Apollo into the FPSOPolvo. The M/T Apollo was re-delivered to Prosafe in Singaporewaters in the last week of November2005. Preparatory work took placeduring the month of December, andrepair and conversion work commen-ced in earnest in early January 2006.Repair and conversion work will beperformed in Singapore from Januaryto December 2006 at Keppel Shipyard(Tuas). The M/T Ionikos was re-delivered in January 2006 andentered the same yard in early March2006. Despite being a smaller vessel,the schedule for FPSO Tui is tighterthan that for FPSO Polvo, with only11 months in the shipyard.

The Polvo and Tui projects are beingexecuted during a period of intenseactivity in the offshore and shipbuilding industries. Buoyed by thehigh price of oil, many marginal fieldsare becoming economically viable.This in turn has driven demand formore offshore production facilities,both fixed and floating. Such highdemand has absorbed much of thecapacity of the shipyards and modulefabrication facilities in the Asia Pacificregion. Similarly, many equipmentvendors are operating at almost fullcapacity which is impacting the tightdelivery schedules required by fast-track conversion projects.

Strong project controlTo mitigate some of the risksassociated with an overheatingmarket, Prosafe has taken strongercontrol over the design andfabrication of the topsides processmodules. On previous projects,

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M/T Apollo’s main deck, looking aft.

M/T Apollo - refurbished pipe rack.

Prosafe has awarded engineeringprocurement construction (EPC)contracts for the supply of completedmodules. This time, the processmodules will be designed by externaldesign houses. For Polvo, the workwill be undertaken in Singapore byABB Lumus Global. For Tui, processengineering will be performed byAlliance Engineering in Houston.Procurement of all tagged equipmentfor both projects will be performedby Prosafe’s procurement team inSingapore and free issued to theshipyard and module fabricator.Fabrication of the modules for both projects will be performed inSingapore by Dyna-Mac EngineeringServices. Prosafe’s project teams willmanage the engineering, procure-ment and fabrication interfaces.Purchase orders for long lead equip-ment items for the steam and powergeneration systems were issued in thefirst week of the projects to maintainthe schedule for sail away from theshipyard. Other purchase orders arebeing placed as early as feasible tobook slots in vendors' factories and to allow vendors to procure specialmaterials that have long lead times.

On time, within budgetProsafe’s project teams are workinghard to ensure that we continue to

keep up our track-record ofcompleting conversion projects safely, on time and within budget.

The FPSO Polvo is scheduled to leavethe shipyard in mid to late December2006 and will remain in Singaporewaters for approximately two weeksto complete tests, pre-commissioningand commissioning. The vessel willthen sail to the field and is scheduledto arrive in Brazilian waters by mid tolate February 2007. First oil and hand-over to operations is scheduled forthe second quarter of 2007.

The FPSO Tui is scheduled to leave theshipyard in early February 2007 and isdue in New Zealand waters in March2007. First oil and hand over to

operations is scheduled for the firstweek of April 2007.

Well prepared for further expansionProsafe Production aims to be aleading player for ownership, conver-sion and operation of FPSOs world-wide. It will be the best over time interms of safe, efficient and profitableoperation. The award of the Polvoand Tui contracts demonstrates ourstrong position in the market forconverting and operating FPSOsoutside the North Sea. Activity in the FPSO market is very high, and weare pursuing new tenders in addition to the two existing conversionprojects. Prosafe is well prepared forfurther expansion in terms of bothoperational and financial capacity.

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M/T Apollo entered the drydock on 15 May 2006, and will be there until approx. 15 June 2006. Work to be carriedout during dry docking is amongst others 954 tonnes steel renewal and blasting and painting of the hull.

Prosafe will assume production at the Polvo field off Brazil forDevon Energy Americas in Q2 2007.

Production at the Tui field off New Zealand for NZOP will start in Q2 2007.

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The contract is for one year, withstart-up in December 2005, and fiveone-month options available toTOTAL as a contingency. During thisperiod, accommodation services willbe supplied to personnel working for the Rosa development projectonboard the Girassol FPSO. The Rosafield1) – located 15 to 25 kilometresfrom Girassol – is to be tied-back tothe FPSO. Processing of the Rosaproduction will require new facilitiesto be installed on the FPSO deck andhooked-up to existing facilities with a large number of personnel workingon the site.

The FPSO Girassol is 300m long and60m wide and is capable of handling200 000 barrels/day, with a storagecapacity of 2 million barrels. The Rosaproject will allow production toincrease to 250 000 barrels/day. She is moored with a 16-point chainmooring system in 1 350m of water inthe Girassol field, the world’s largestdeep water producing oilfield, 200kmoff the coast of Angola.

A new geographical locationWorking offshore Angola representeda new geographical location forProsafe and, apart from a contract in2004 at FPSO Bonga off Nigeria, theMSV Regalia’s operations had all beenin the North Sea region. This wastherefore a significant milestone forboth the company and vessel.

From contract award to arriving on location involved an enormousamount of planning and work. Below, Staffan Dyberg, Captain of

MSV Regalia describes that process.Filipe Domingos, a member of the local workforce, shares hisexperiences of working for Prosafefor the first time and John Ibbotson,Marine Project Manager, reports onthe challenges of operating in a newenvironment.

Staffan Dyberg, Captain, MSV RegaliaTOTAL’s operational requirementsmeant that modifications and newconstruction work had to be carriedout on the MSV Regalia prior tocontract commencement. Due to thevessel’s tight schedule, the intensiveworkscope, carried out at the CCBYard in Ågotnes, was split into twophases. Phase one was carried outfrom 2nd January to 15th February2005, between Statoil’s Troll andVisund contracts. Phase two wasconducted between 14th October and

2nd November 2005, at the end of theBP Magnus contract.

During this second phase, the gang-way was dismantled and lifted ashore

MSV Regalia – Girassol reportFollowing negotiations between Prosafe Offshore and TOTAL E&P ANGOLA in early2003, a contract for the MSV Regalia to provide accommodation services on theGirassol field off the coast of Angola was finally signed on 14th October 2004.

FPSO Girassol gangway-connected to MSV Regalia.

Staffan Dyberg, Captain, MSV Regalia.

1) The Rosa and Girassol fields lie in Angola Block 17. Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (Sonangol) is the Block 17 Concessionaire. Total E&P Angola is the Operator in the Block. Total’s coventurers are Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Ltd., BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd.,Statoil Angola Block 17 AS and Norsk Hydro Dezassete AS.

for a complete overhaul. A newgangway pedestal was fitted prior toit being repositioned and recertified.Two accommodation modules wereremoved in order to create more deckspace, which would be required forconstruction work during the contractfor TOTAL. The consequence of thiswas that many cabins had to bemodified to four-man occupation inorder to increase the remaining bedcapacity. Additionally, two SurferBoat landing platforms andassociated refuelling facilities andluggage handling equipment wereinstalled fore and aft on the columns,

to facilitate personnel transportationat Girassol.

The Prosafe team, together with theCCB yard and all the subcontractors,did an excellent job and the MSVRegalia was ready to depart Norwayon schedule with all work completeand – most importantly – accidentand incident free.

In accordance with the schedule, anannual dynamic positioning (DP) trialwas conducted at the end of themobilisation. Then, it was time toconnect MSV Regalia up to the

anchor handler Bourbon Surf, whichwas contracted for the transit passageto Angola. After such a hectic andintense mobilisation period, we werepleased to set sail.

The passage to Angola was plannedin two legs, with a stop at Las Palmas.November in the North Sea can be amonth of bad weather, and thatproved to be the case, depressionscoming one after another afterleaving Bergen. The wind and searemained against us as we crossed the North Sea and continued downthrough the English Channel, slowing

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Thruster blades being positioned on MSV Regalia main deck for blade renewal.

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progress. The first part of Biscay waspassed with high sea from the beam,but as we passed Cape Finisterre, theweather finally improved.

Three weeks after leaving CCB, theMSV Regalia arrived in Las Palmas.The Bourbon Surf was released totake fuel onboard for the nextpassage. The crew was changed outby helicopter and the departure ofone set of contractors, who had beenworking on the accommodationupgrade during the first leg, wasfollowed by the arrival of another,who would undertake externalpainting work on the second part of the voyage. Twenty-four hoursafter arriving, the Bourbon Surf wasreconnected with the MSV Regaliaand the voyage to Angola continued.

The passage down to Angola fromLas Palmas went fast and within three weeks, MSV Regalia arrived inAngola. However, on passage, thevessel had sustained damage to thethruster blades. After consultationwith the manufacturer, Prosafe tookthe decision to change the blades out prior to commencing the TOTALcontract. Due to the limited timeframe, Prosafe decided to utilise anestablished Norwegian team to assistwith the change out and they,

together with their specialistequipment, were mobilised fromNorway to Luanda. The change outwas completed in five days.

Sodhexo, the contracted cateringcompany, manned up during the stopin Luanda and the Prosafe crew whohad left in Las Palmas returned. Withthe crew change complete, theanchors were lifted and MSV Regalialeft Luanda and steamed out to Block17, where FPSO Girassol is anchored,arriving on location ready forcontract one day ahead of schedule.After arrival in the field, DP testswere carried out which wereaccepted by the client and thegangway was landed on contractedtime on 22nd December.

Five months on, up-manning withregard to our POB has been slow andwe have just reached our full POB of400 persons. From a technical aspect,everything has functioned withoutany problem for this part of thecontract. We can also look back on aperiod without any incidents duringmobilisation both alongside and atlocation. This is very gratifying as it has been a very intense workperiod and since arriving, we haveincorporated several new Angolancrew members, including FilipeDomingos, who has kindlycontributed his impressions below.

Filipe Domingos, Radio OperatorMy name is Filipe Domingos and I am employed by Sonadiets as RadioOperator, working onboard the MSVRegalia since last December. I havemet really kind people onboard withwhom I get along well and I enjoygood working relationships witheveryone. The crew are veryexperienced, from the Captain, Chief Engineer, Chief Officer, DPOs,etc., to my mate in the Radio room.

I am very much enjoying working forProsafe, offering my services in orderto develop myself regarding my joband my life, too.

If I listen to the local workforceworking for the other companiesbased on MSV Regalia, I hear how

impressed they are with the vesseland the services provided. It showsthat Prosafe is welcome in Angolaand expected to stay for a long time.

John Ibbotson, Marine Project ManagerWorking in Angola is another first for Prosafe and it has presented new challenges. To assist with crewchanges and logistics, we have takenon an international freight for-warding company, who are well-established in Angola. Prosafe has set up its project office within thiscompany’s premises in Luanda, whichis where I am based for the durationof the contract.

We have achieved over 50 per centAngolan content in the MSV Regaliacrew, including Radio Operators,Accommodation Technicians, Caterers,Heli Administrators and Medics. The local crew have been employedthrough Angolan companies, whohave been subcontracted by Prosafeto supply fully-trained personnel andthis arrangement has been workingwell.

So far, the MSV Regalia and her crewhave performed faultlessly. The oiland gas industry is particularly activein Angola at present and the MSVRegalia’s performance to date willenhance her reputation as a premiumDP, NMD Class III, Multi-Service Vessel,capable of operating on a worldwidebasis.

Filipe Domingos, Radio Operator.

John Ibbotson, Marine Project Manager.

(This article is a reprint of an articleby Joe Evangelista for ABS’ Surveyormagazine)

During 2005, Singapore-based ProsafeProduction began designing two verydifferent floating production, storageand offloading (FPSO) units. Perhapsmore dramatic than their sizedifference is what they share incommon – each uses the same generic turret design.

One is a $178 million contract fromNew Zealand Overseas Petroleum toconvert the 119 900-dwt suezmaxtanker Ionikos into an FPSO for theTui field offshore New Zealand. The other is a $270 million contractfrom Devon Energy to convert the252 272-dwt tanker Apollo into anFPSO for the Polvo field offshore

Brazil. First oil for each is expected insecond-quarter 2007, and for eachProsafe will supply its own turret andswivel designs – the first full instal-lations of its new swivel stack, whichallows major maintenance withoutshutdown, and the first applicationsof its generic turret design.

“The generic turret made thedifference in winning these twoprojects,” says Alan Hooper, ProsafeTechnical Director. “It is a simpledesign that’s also very flexible. Evenin the early stages of the project itlets you fine-tune the riser arrange-ment to the client’s requirements.That flexibility is very attractive.”The product of a five-year develop-ment effort, the generic turret is amodular base design in which allcomponents are building blocks that

can be scaledup or downto meetproject-specific needs– making theturret designphase more amathematicaloperationthan engi-neeringeffort.

Thebuildingblockconceptextendseven to thebearingssupportingthe turret, which are discrete unitsavailable in two standard sizes thataccommodate scaling of the basedesign. “You just calculate thevertical loads and pick the size and arrangement of bearings,” says Hooper. “That concept appliesthroughout. The beauty of this, forclient and contractor, is that there is no FEED (front-end engineeringdesign) stage; the turret is alreadydesigned.”

“Even the way you handle themooring lines and the risers is verysimilar between the different sizes,”he adds. “And to go very deep willrequire adjustments to, for example,how you pull the mooring lines orrisers, but the fundamental conceptremains the same.” Hooper says thegeneric design allows the company to commit to tight deadlines withconfidence.

Revolving around its generic turretA generic turret is the heart of two new FPSO projects by Prosafe Production.

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Alan Hooper, Technical Director,

Prosafe Production

Simplifying the design effortPerhaps the biggest structuralengineering challenge in an FPSOproject is to make the turret shaft and the vessel hull work together. In service, both ship and shaft respondto wind and wave by flexing andtwisting, each in its own ways. Thiscomplex relationship is compoundedby the nature of the shaft, which isnot rigid, but made of discs and tubesand many components that all movein different ways – a situation furthercompounded as the shaft diameterincreases and consumes more of thevessel’s breadth. Rather than try toelastically match the shaft with thehull, Prosafe developed a standardbearing system that absorbs thedistortions and movements of thesetwo dramatically different structures.

The turret rests on a system of self-aligning hydrostatic roller bearings, aproprietary design that, says Hooper,is the key to making its genericconcept work.

Hydrostatic bearings have been usedbefore in FPSOs, in so-called ‘activesystems’ that employ sensor-controlled hydraulic pumps, which,running constantly, adjust thebearings to match the movement ofthe unit. Prosafe’s design takes a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ approach, in whichthe pump pressurizes discrete bearingunits and is then shut off. A furtherbenefit to individual bearing units,says Hooper, is that the operator cantake individual bearings out of servicefor inspection or repair withoutdisturbing operation of the turret.

“The hydraulic components we put inare about ten times more reliablethan the brake parts in your car –that’s my favorite line when the oilcompanies ask about it,” says Hooper.“Maybe not ten times, but your brakepiston in the car has only one seal.We have two, plus a backup cushion.”

Swivel with a twistAnother innovation incorporated into

Prosafe’s two latest projects is its newswivel design. The company has beendesigning swivels since 1991. Its firstwas six inches in diameter, its mostrecent 1.5m across.

The fluid swivel is the critical linkbetween reservoir and production in an FPSO solution. An FPSO swivelassembly is made of a stationary innercolumn and a stack of rotatingcylindrical chambers. The columncontains tubes or conductors that areconnected to the subsea wells, andthe cylinders are the transfer stationslinking the conductors to theonboard systems.

Because a multiple-port swivel canhandle a great variety of fluid media,maintaining its seals is key tocontinued operation. “On previousdesigns, changing a seal requireddismantling, which meant shuttingdown operations,” says Hooper. “Onthese two projects the swivels havespare seals in place, protectively

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stored in chambers nearby. Whenneeded, you can actually close offone section and use a spare section.Then you can change out the oldseals without interfering withproduction.

“Though operationally we haven’thad to change seals very often, it’sstill quite handy to know that youcan do maintenance without upset-ting production, and a feature ofsome comfort to the client,” he adds.

This new technology took a role inthe recent upgrade of an FPSO. Inaddition to doubling water injectioncapacity, from 60 000 to 120 000barrels/day, Prosafe installed a 15-tonsection containing two 12-inchsections to the vessel’s original eight-

part swivel stack. The resulting stackis a past-meets-future demonstration,as seals on the new section can bechanged in-place while those on theexisting section cannot. Prosafereports that 99 percent of the job wasdone while the unit was producing,with only short shutdowns requiredfor final connections and partschange-out.

Prosafe maintains an active researchand development program that hasan impact on other aspects of itsprojects as well. Innovations in thePolvo project, for example, include 36MW power generation on-board theFPSO, much of which will be fed outto supply a platform about twokilometers away; steam-poweredequipment instead of gas turbines or

diesels; and on-board production ofdiesel and boiler fuel that will beused by the FPSO and the platform it supports – something very fewprojects currently do.

Safety in actionOne input stream to Prosafe’sengineering activities is its safetyregime, says Director of Contracts &Risk Assessment Per Darland. “We arecommitted to maintaining a very highstandard of work safety and workethic in the company,” says Darland.“We believe that safety is theresponsibility of the whole workforceand this approach is reinforced by theSafety Management System.

“We use safety management toolsand do this in several ways,” he

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explains. “There’s Design tools – thelayout review and safety case – andEngineering tools such as technicalchange management; then there’s theWork tools, which uses training andcompetency assessment, permit towork, toolbox talks and job safetyanalysis to get the message across;and, finally, Workforce behavioraltools. To support this, senior manage-ment regularly go out to the vesselsto talk about safety; and we haveempowered the workforce byimplementing the Dupont STOPobservation program, where peoplecan use a “Stop Card” to halt anyactivity and point out an unsafeaction. It’s a good system and wesupport it with newsletters, safetyalerts and regular staff meetings toensure that the workforce is fullyinformed.”

“And it feeds back into theengineering side,” adds Hooper.“Reports come back and figure inengineering reviews as checks onsystem safety. We conduct meetingswith people from various areas tostudy and question our designs froma maintenance and safety perspective.For example, though engineering ofour two present projects is justbeginning, we have already hadseveral safety meetings, some chairedby ABS, and formal safety reviews forthe ship and its systems. Even beforethis stage, other engineering groupsare performing safety reviews. It allbuilds up so that by the final stagethe design has already gone throughseveral stages of review.

“It’s important to get operationsfeedback,” he adds. Even at the earlystages of our two new projects, wehave the engineering teams in placelooking at mooring system designand working together with theshipyard on engineering details.”

FPSO veteran moves forwardProsafe Production has a longpedigree that stretches back throughits predecessor company to the earlydays of FPSO technology. Founded in1982, when the FPSO concept wasbarely six years old, the companyinstalled its first FSO in 1985 and itsfirst FPSO in 1994. When acquired by

Norwegian technology and accommo-dations specialists Prosafe in 2001, the company was completing theconversion of the 151 000-dwtsuezmax tanker White Sea into theFPSO Espoir Ivoirien for installationoffshore West Africa. The followingyear it converted sister ship GreyWarrior into the ABS-classed FPSOAbo for deployment in West Africa’sGulf of Guinea.

Today, Prosafe Production is anengineering, project managementand operations company with officesin Singapore and Houston and sitebranches for local support in Brazil,Egypt, Gabon, India, Ivory Coast andNigeria.

As the company approaches its 25thanniversary it is poised for expansion.“We are now focusing on medium-and large-sized projects and deeper-water solutions,” says Hooper. “It’s anatural progression for the company.But to move up from projects in the$100-million range you need a lot ofcorporate muscle behind you – thereare higher capital costs, more peopleinvolved, and greater depth inengineering and operations neededto handle the bigger and morecomplex challenges that biggerprojects bring – and we have that

support from Prosafe in Norway,” hesays. “The company’s idea is to goforward, to bigger projects, and thegeneric turret is a way to start.”

Reflecting on the beauty of thatsolution, he adds with a smile, “If youask an engineer to make a 20m shaftin a ship that acts like a steel balloonand then make it rotate, he’d say, ‘Go away,you’re mad!’ How sillyit sounds,but howwonderfullyit works.”

Per Darland, Director ofContracts & Risk Assessment,

Prosafe Production.

Prosafe ASARisavika havnering 224P.O.Box 143N-4098 Tananger, Norway

By Roy Hallås, Exec. VP CorporateBusiness Development

The acquisition of Consafe confirmsProsafe’s strategy of consolidating the market for semi-submersibleaccommodation/service rigs, andcements Prosafe’s leading position in this market.

Prosafe has over time seen atightening of the market foraccommodation/service rigs. This isdue to increased demand in newregions like Asia, west Africa and the USA, and increased application of units in connection with otherfloaters, e.g. FPSOs and TLPs.

–A combination with Consafe secures the company an effectivegeographical distribution of rigs, and significantly increases thecapacity to serve a growing market,says Arne Austreid, President & CEOof Prosafe ASA.

Demand primarily relates to theinstallation and production phases of an oil field. Market development is late cyclic, and has traditionallyfollowed the fluctuations of drillingand seismic with some delay.

The current high drilling activity isexpected to substantially increase the number of field developments.Accordingly, there is a solid base for a

continued growth in demand foraccommodation/service rigs.

Further, and even more encouraging,is the fact that several fields,especially in regions with littleexisting oil related infrastructure, arebound to be developed using FPSOs

due to the cost effectiveness of suchsolutions. Prosafe’s strong growthambitions within the OffshoreSupport Services and FloatingProduction segments are based on amarket outlook which is better thanever before.

Prosafe cements its leading positionEarly May, Prosafe entered into an agreement for the acquisition of 48 % of theshares in Consafe Offshore AB. In the beginning of June, Prosafe put forward acorresponding offer to the other shareholders of Consafe.

Consafe’s Safe Bristolia accommodation/service rig.