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countries). “The extensive simulator training in the advanced course is done using Converteam’s DP systems, students are also required to complete 30 days of familiarization at sea upon completion of the basic course,” Santos said.

Santos has been with the company for more than four years, and he explained that the C-MAR’s DP training course be- gan almost a decade ago in a small offi ce in Macaé, a city in the northeast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, which is the main O&G hub for the Campos Basin. With the success of the course it relocated to the current suite of offi ces in Rio. “We train between 300 and 400 DPOs per year, with a maxi- mum of eight students per week in the basic course and four students per week in the advanced course,” said Santos. A DP

Maintenance Course is also offered at the Converteam train- ing facility in Macaé and also has a four day duration, target- ing individuals who may be required to perform, or assist in, the maintenance of a vessel’s Dynamic Positioning System.

The course includes System elements, Interfacing, Monitor- ing and Documentation, normally this course is taken by elec- tronics technicians who will do maintenance and repair of the systems aboard a vessel. DP systems are highly complex and are made up of an array of GPS transmitters/receivers, sen- sor and control hardware and power modules, usually located below a vessel or ship’s bridge, and these are connected to the

DP main and backup modules located on the bridge. “The DP courses are now administered in English and this sometimes causes problems for students that do not have a ad- vanced level of English, so many times teachers need to explain things in English and follow up in Portuguese, which some- times causes courses to be extended by a day or two. It’s impor- tant for prospective students to hone their English skills before signing up for any of our courses,” said Santos. The Nautical

Institute has full oversight over the DP courses to the point where courses are fi lmed and the NI can check on classes in re- al-time. “Since all classes are fi lmed, the NI can patch in at any time and check on the class’ development, what is being taught and what diffi culties the students are having. It’s common for post-accident investigators to check on the class videos to see if the DPO who had the accident had similar problems during simulations. What happens during simulator training here is re- fl ected on real-life situations offshore,” said Santos.

With the continuing growth of the oil and gas industry in

Brazil, there has also been a major growth in shipbuilding and ship, vessel and rig leasing. This has signifi cantly increased the demand for Brazilian DP operators since main contractor

Petrobras requires specifi c levels of local content on each ship or vessel it hires. “We are experiencing a continuous growth in the Brazilian offshore market, and in the near future we may need to expand our training facilities in order to accommodate the infl ux of prospective DPO’s. Looking at the future, it is quite clear that the offshore growth in Brazil will continue at least for another decade. With the complex nature of drilling for and producing deepwater pre-salt oil and then in some cas- es transferring this oil from FPSOs to export tankers offshore, there is no doubt that the demand for DPOs will continue to grow and C-MAR will need to adapt accordingly. I believe we are well prepared to tackle this demand at C-MAR,” said

Mauricio.

Mauricio Santos, C-MAR Country Manager at the Rio de Janeiro training center.

Credit : Claudio P asc hoa www.seadiscovery.com

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