1 The Challenge
The client needed a thorough maintenance management system for its floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel offshore Brazil.
The FPSO is tasked with all primary processing of fluids produced by wells connected to the field’s three platforms and is a critical asset. A locally based team was responsible for developing an adequate solution that aligned the FPSO’s maintenance system with the customer’s existing maintenance philosophy.

2 The Oceaneering Plan
The project’s initial contract ran from 2014 to 2017 and covered 70,000 functional locations.
The scope included:
- Reviewing technical documentation (P&IDs, maintenance manuals, single line diagrams, and wiring diagrams)
- Generating a technical hierarchy of the plant functional locations
- Detailing the mechanical dependencies for mechanical isolation of equipment
- Implementing a risk-based maintenance strategy following NORSOK Z-008
- Establishing a criticality classification for all functional locations in the installation
- Defining preventive maintenance routines and task assignments
- Outlining maintenance tasks to be performed in each work order
- Completing a compliance review of maintenance plans according to health, safety and environment national and international standards and regulations (NBRs, NR-10, NR-13, NR-37, NORMAN 01, NORMAN 05, ILO, ASME, SOLAS and DNV).
In addition to delivering the Risk, Reliability, and Maintenance scope, our Fabric Maintenance (FM) and Management team used our proprietary SOLV software to provide surface maintenance solutions for the FPSO.
Oceaneering experts established an approach in line with the client’s FM philosophy that included identifying various administrative units across the FPSO’s 211,286 m² of coated surfaces. This included classifying surface condition based on NACE parameters.

Table 1: Area distribution per coated surface condition and average condition (May 2018).
Graphic 1: Total area categorized by consequence class.
3 Continued Support
Based on the successful delivery of the first three-year contract, the client selected Oceaneering to deliver continuous support for the maintenance management of the installation.
As part of the extension of the contract, the team has been tasked with:
- Ensuring continuous improvement of maintenance routines, considering methodologies such as Plan Do Check Act (PDCA)
- Defining and implementing the maintenance strategy (technical hierarchy, criticality assessment, maintenance routines) for new equipment installed on the FPSO
- Defining and implementing corrective strategies and spare parts allocation using a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS)
- Delivering the FPSO’s first long-term plan (January 2019 to December 2023) focusing on the evaluation of coated surfaces and describing the systematics for execution of surface maintenance.
Oceaneering participated in the client’s 2020 high activity period (HAP). Our team oversaw the pipe painting scope using SOLV prioritization to identify assets needing the most urgent attention.
We are currently developing the FPSO’s 2023-2026 long-term plan including the condition update of the installation which will include a 39-day offshore campaign that will enable a total surface inspection of 225.023 m².
4 Results
As a result of the initial three-year contract, the client was able to benefit from both a significant reduction in planned maintenance and an impressive return on investment (ROI).
By implementing standardization across operations and modifying maintenance routines, they were able to achieve a 50% reduction in planned maintenance. It is estimated that the savings provided to the operator reached the 10 million USD mark annually. Oceaneering was able to help the customer reshape their maintenance approach using a multidisciplinary team of professionals based in Brazil and Norway.
Continued Client Support
Oceaneering continues to support the client with a local team of mechanical, electric, automation, and material engineers. This ensures that the operator is compliant with national regulations and is able to demonstrate this compliance during audits. By enlisting Oceaneering to provide ongoing maintenance services, the client can:
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