DP-2 Shuttle Tankers
The discovery of new deep-sea oil fields off the coast of Brazil creates
massive requirements to provide platforms, rigs, support vessels and
drilling systems. This has opened a wide window of opportunity for
Lauritzen Offshore's specialized fleet of dynamically positioned (DP)
support vessels, the Dan Eagle, the Dan Cisne and the
Dan Sabiá.
All three vessels feature state-of-the-art design and dynamic positioning
technology. The DP2 system enables the vessels automatically to maintain
position and heading by using their own propellers and thrusters in order
to transfer oil safely from floating production, storage and offloading
units (FPSOs) for transport to shore. A DP shuttle tanker becomes a
"floating pipeline", an arrangement that has many competitive
advantages compared to deepwater pipelines: economically attractive, it can
easily be redeployed between fields according to production planning
requirements, and is easy to maintain and repair.
The dynamically positioned (DP2) Shuttle Tanker Dan Eagle was converted from the former product
tanker M/S Freja Pacific at Remontowa Shipyard (Gdansk) and outfitted with
DP2 and bow-loading systems. The Dan Eagle was delivered to Lauritzen
Offshore at the end of 2008 and is operating on a long-term contract with
Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras.
Lauritzen Offshore's two other DP2 vessels, the sister vessels Dan Cisne and Dan Sabiá, are purpose-built shuttle tankers from
the Cosco Nantong Shipyard in China. Both vessels are operating under a
long-term contract with Transpetro, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petrobras.
Lauritzen Offshore's strategy is to remain focused on Brazil, which in
the next decade will have one of the world's largest oil reserves. As a
consequence of this strategy, Lauritzen Offshore has opened an office in
Rio de Janeiro to position itself in this business and to provide full-time
local presence.
Lauritzen Offshore's DP units are all registered with the Danish
International Ship registry.
