Dutch offshore services provider Fugro has won a deal with offshore transportation and installation firm Jumbo Maritime to provide providing positioning and construction support services on the Mero 1 deepwater field development, offshore Brazil.

Using its navigation suite and augmented reality camera system Fugro is supporting Jumbo in the installation of 35 subsea torpedo piles and 24 mooring lines down to water depths of 1980 meters. This critical infrastructure will be used to anchor the Mero 1 FPSO and associated equipment.

The work is being carried out onboard Jumbo’s Fairplayer heavy lift crane vessel and is estimated to last 6 months. 

In addition to pre- and post-lay surveys of the piles and mooring lines, Fugro’s navigation suite and augmented reality camera system solutions will provide real-time positioning for subsea construction and installation activities, and all this, according to Fugro, without needing any hardware mounted on the subsea infrastructure, "an approach which reduces risk, increases spatial awareness and streamlines workflows."

Rogerio Carvalho, Country Manager for Fugro in Brazil, said: “Fugro’s global reach and advanced technology, combined with our resources and experience from the Netherlands and Brazil, were key to securing this contract. Having overcome many challenges in planning the operations for this project amid the constraints caused by Covid-19, we’re excited to now be supporting Jumbo on this important deepwater development.”

Mero field, located approximately 180 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, is operated by the Libra Consortium, which comprises Petrobras as the operator (40 % share), Shell Brasil (20 %), Total (20 %), CNODC (10 %) and CNOOC Limited (10 %). The consortium also includes Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) as manager of the Production Sharing Contract.