Engine-maker Rolls-Royce has won a £100m order to supply integrated power and propulsion systems for seven offshore drilling vessels in Brazil.
The ships will be built at the Atlântico Sul shipyard for Brazilian oil company Petrobras with the Rolls-Royce system propelling the vessels to and from drill sites.
The Derby-based company will equip each of the seven vessels with six large thrusters and diesel generators, with Tony Wood, president of the marine division at Rolls-Royce describing the contract as a “significant order for a new customer, Atlântico Sul”.
The new drill ships used by Petrobras will support extraction from wells up to 3,000 metres below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
The equipment will ensure that the vessels accurately maintain their positioning during drilling operations.
The company is securing a number of large contracts to power ships for the oil and gas sector, securing a £9m contract on ships being made by BAE Systems in Florida on Monday.
Rolls-Royce has delivered propulsion systems for more than 140 mobile drilling units around the world, with systems on order for a further 30 units.
Rolls-Royce, which already has four facilities in Brazil, is set to open its second facility in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.
This facility will be dedicated to the assembly and testing of industrial gas turbines. The first batch of equipment to be produced there has already been ordered by Petrobras in a £500m contract signed in 2011.
