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00:00Mers Peregrino is a supertanker, about to undergo an astonishing transformation.
00:07Off the coast of Brazil, she's being turned into one of the largest floating oil production facilities in the world.
00:15It's an awful strain coming on this cable.
00:17It's a massively complex and dangerous operation, with billions of dollars on the line.
00:23This is a one-off situation where we don't get a second chance to do this.
00:28For a marvel of modern marine engineering, this is the ultimate makeover.
00:45The supertanker Mers Peregrino is on her final voyage.
00:50Before long, she'll be hooked up to Brazil's Peregrino oil field, and her life as a ship will be over.
00:57But she'll immediately begin a new job as an oil installation, pumping, storing and offloading billions of US dollars' worth of crude oil.
01:09Her captain, Fritz Juhl, has been at sea his whole life.
01:14Well, it will be my last command, and I'll be the last captain on board the ship here,
01:20because when there's not a ship anymore, you don't need a captain.
01:25Over the last 34 days, Captain Juhl has safely guided her from a shipyard in Singapore,
01:31through the pirate-plagued Indian Ocean, past Africa's Cape of Good Hope,
01:36and across the southern Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro.
01:41To get here on time, the 95-strong crew has had to work right through Christmas.
01:51The ship's transformation began five years ago in Singapore.
01:55More than 16 million man-hours and 1.5 billion US dollars later, she's now an FPSO —
02:03a Floating Oil Production Storage and Offloading Vessel.
02:08Dale Harris is one of Peregrino's two offshore installation managers.
02:19Dale will take command of the ship once she's been moored into position.
02:24This is one of the most advanced FPSOs that's ever been built.
02:27The complexity and the technology involved in this massive building is absolutely mind-blowing.
02:34The technology involved in this massive building is tremendous.
02:38For me, this is by far one of the biggest achievements of my life.
02:42In the coming days, Peregrino will be permanently hooked up to a system of pipelines,
02:47running from two oil platforms.
02:50Eventually, oil will be pumped through the pipelines and into the ship's storage tanks.
02:55In return, Peregrino will transmit power to the platforms.
03:00The stored crude oil will be offloaded onto shuttle tankers
03:03and taken to refineries for processing into gasoline and other fuels.
03:14But before she can start work, she needs to get there.
03:19On New Year's Eve in Rio, she weighs anchor for the last time
03:24and sets off for the place she'll call home for the next 30 years.
03:28The Peregrino oil field.
03:52Waiting at the oil field for the arrival of the ship
03:54is a pod, or buoy, suspended 20 meters underwater.
04:00The buoy is permanently tethered to the seabed by chains
04:03and will be installed inside an opening in the ship's hull.
04:10This will also be the connection point for the oil pipelines and power cables
04:14running between the ship and the platforms.
04:18Once connected, oil will be able to flow into the ship's 14 massive heated storage tanks,
04:24while the electric generating station, located on the top deck, will power the platforms.
04:32At 307,000 gross tons, Maersk Peregrino is a monster.
04:39She's longer than an aircraft carrier and her hull plunges 31 meters below the surface.
04:47To outfit her for oil production, 10,000 tons of equipment was welded and bolted onto the deck,
04:53so much that it's blocked the view from the bridge.
04:57For Second Officer Jonathan Vega, that means an increased risk of collision.
05:02Because of the superstructure, we cannot see any target from here.
05:06So we station one lookout forward in the container.
05:10So as you can see, you can see the container here.
05:15You see the lookout? There's one lookout, one guy there,
05:19reporting anything object or vessel you see from there.
05:24Jonathan checks in with the lookouts, 300 meters ahead on the bow.
05:34Do you think it's clear?
05:39But the extra equipment does have benefits.
05:42The mass is so big, it catches the wind like a giant sail, pushing the ship forward.
05:48She has been a very nice manoeuvring ship.
05:51And when we have a wind, a stern, she's just acting like a sailing ship
05:58and give us two extra knots without using any fuel.
06:04Everything about Maersk Peregrino is supersized.
06:07She's powered by an enormous seven-cylinder diesel engine,
06:10which delivers 29,000 kilowatts of power,
06:14driving the ship to a top speed of 16 knots, or 30 kilometers per hour.
06:21Even though it's brand new, this engine is at the end of its life.
06:25Once the ship's moored, it'll be shut down and the propeller tube sealed.
06:30Eight hours after leaving Rio, Maersk Peregrino arrives at the oil field.
06:37In the distance are two drilling platforms, Peregrino A and Peregrino B.
06:43Over the past year, crews here have been busy drilling wells.
06:47Now that the ship's arrived, it won't be long before oil can finally flow.
06:55Sven Kjellberg is the captain.
06:58Sven Kommer is the drilling supervisor for oil platform B.
07:03Maersk Peregrino is, of course, going to receive all the oil that we pump up.
07:08This is actually a pump. What you see here is a 1,000-horsepower motor and a pump.
07:12We are going to drill a number of wells, ten to start with,
07:15and we're going to pump the well over to the Maersk Peregrino.
07:18It's nice to have someone to give it to, because we don't have any facilities here.
07:23During the next 48 hours, the plan is to hook up the ship to the submerged oil production buoy,
07:29halfway between platforms A and B, which are ten kilometres apart.
07:34Once we actually arrive on location and we get hooked up to the buoy,
07:37we no longer become a vessel under the rules and regulations, we become an installation.
07:41But there's a problem. As Maersk Peregrino approaches her final mooring position,
07:46the wind picks up, too high to perform the delicate hook-up.
07:50Before she even starts, she's facing a delay.
07:54The forecast is a little bit hidden-miss, I'm afraid.
07:57We're just hoping that the forecaster has maybe just overestimated it a little bit.
08:01So, really, we just need to wait until tomorrow and see what the weather's like.
08:04The winds are gusting at up to 30 knots. They need to be below 20 for the hook-up to happen.
08:11Meanwhile, the crew pushes ahead with preparations.
08:15And the first challenge is a big one.
08:18Dropping a 25-tonne steel plug through the ship's hull to the sea floor,
08:23opening her up to the Atlantic Ocean.
08:28It's New Year's Day, and Maersk Peregrino is over Brazil's oil-rich Campos Basin.
08:35Once more, she'll begin her new job as an FPSO,
08:39a Floating Oil Production Storage and Offloading Installation.
08:44But getting her moored won't be easy.
08:47On the bridge, Captain Fritz Juhl is worried about the weather.
08:51The weather is starting to be a little bit rough.
08:54The swell will move the vessel, and that could be a problem for taking up the buoy.
09:03An oil production buoy tethered to the sea floor is set to be hoisted into the ship's hull.
09:09This buoy provides all the key connections that will allow the ship to receive oil from the two nearby platforms.
09:18But the winds are too high, so the hook-up is on hold.
09:23In the meantime, preparations continue.
09:27At the bottom of a watertight compartment, sealed from the rest of the ship, is an 8-metre steel dummy plug.
09:34This is all that separates the ship from the Atlantic Ocean.
09:38And it has to be removed so the buoy can be pulled inside and connected.
09:44The hook-up crew removes the steel plates that hold the plug in place.
09:48They have to be careful not to damage the inflatable seal that will surround the buoy.
09:53It's delicate and dangerous work.
09:56The big concern down here is just that there's a lot of manual labour involved in the rigging up.
10:00There's lots of potential pinch points and tripping hazards.
10:03If we don't feel comfortable and we feel that things aren't as we should be,
10:06we just stop the job, we regroup and we come up with another plan.
10:11An accident here would stop the mooring and could delay the project by weeks.
10:16If we don't get the preparation right, then that's when things go wrong and that's when safety is at risk.
10:21As work continues to remove the plug, new crew members are shuttled onto the ship.
10:27It's a 40-minute helicopter ride to the oil field.
10:34On this run, highly skilled technicians and engineers are brought on board
10:38in preparation for the next phase of the hook-up operation.
10:45Among them is Vincent Lawless, NEST Peregrino's hook-up manager.
10:51It's his job to oversee the critical connection of the ship to the buoy.
10:56His first priority will be cutting the 25-tonne dummy plug from the hull.
11:04The dummy plug at the moment is held with these temporary brackets.
11:08And we're in the process, these guys across here,
11:10we're in the process of cutting these temporary brackets away.
11:14To meet stringent environmental laws, the plug can't be left on the seafloor.
11:19So while one team severs the brackets,
11:21another attaches radio beacons to the plug to help locate it later.
11:26When the peloton hook opens, the dummy plug will freefall to the seabed.
11:30We'll leave it there until we finish the hook-up,
11:33and then we'll come back, we'll pick up on the transponders,
11:36and we'll pick it up with the supply vessels.
11:39There are just a few brackets left to cut.
11:42Most of the weight of the 25-tonne plug is now taken on by a 5-centimetre cable.
11:49With so much riding on this operation, there's no room for error.
11:53Any one of us down there, if we see anything,
11:56we'll be shouting at Preben, and Preben will stop the windshield.
11:59He's got direct contact with Charlie. Charlie's driving the windshield.
12:04And the instruction to stop will be stop?
12:08Just stop, stop, stop.
12:11As soon as you hear the first one, that's it.
12:13Cut it for any reason.
12:16Captain Ewell manoeuvres the ship to the drop zone,
12:19a clear area of the oilfield where the plug can be dumped with ease.
12:23We are in the northern part of the field,
12:26where there's no lines, no pipes, nothing.
12:30It's clear bottom to drop that plug.
12:35The brackets are gone, and the area is cleared.
12:38Now, the cable is the only thing supporting the plug's weight
12:42and holding it in place.
12:44We're waiting for word from the bridge that we're on location.
12:47This should be in the next, say, 20 minutes or so.
12:51The ship is in position,
12:53and the steel plug is slowly and carefully lowered.
13:01Revealing the blue waters of the southern Atlantic.
13:05It's clear.
13:08But there's a problem.
13:10The hook holding the plug won't open.
13:13To find out why,
13:15hook-up team members Preben Christensen and Ross Daly
13:18look at the shackle, five metres above the compartment floor.
13:23There's two issues there.
13:25One issue was the one-release pin,
13:27a jammed one-release pin,
13:29and the other issue was the one-release pin.
13:33There's two issues there.
13:35One issue was the one-release pin that jammed in the shackle.
13:39To free it, Ross has to get dangerously close to the cable
13:43holding the 25-tonne steel plug.
13:46If the cable snaps, it could be lethal.
13:51With a small bit of force hammering,
13:53we hammered that out and got the release pin out.
13:56With a little coaxing, the job is done.
13:59OK, clear.
14:01And after that, we're fine.
14:04Under tremendous pressure,
14:06the Pelican hook finally releases the plug,
14:09which plunges 100 metres to the ocean floor.
14:12The first step of the hook-up process is complete.
14:20With the ship empty of cargo and riding high,
14:23seawater only reaches the bottom of the compartment.
14:26It's been a good day. We got the plug in the bottom of the Atlantic.
14:29It's now resting on the seabed for recovery tugs to come in
14:32and later they can pick it up.
14:34So far, it's a good start to the new year.
14:37The crew is now on standby to pull the buoy into the hull
14:41and make the key oil connections.
14:47This will be the final step in converting the ship
14:50from a supertanker into an FPSO.
14:59But the weather remains a problem.
15:01Winds are still too high to start Phase 2
15:04of the delicate hook-up operation.
15:09They need to drop to below 20 knots
15:11before Peregrino can move into position and connect to the buoy.
15:18Offshore installation manager Dale Harris isn't about to take a gamble.
15:23The stakes are very, very high for everybody.
15:26Obviously, no-one likes us to be sitting here waiting on weather
15:29because they feel it's not productive time.
15:31At the end of the day, we don't get a second chance at this.
15:34We go in and we don't hit the buoy in the right position
15:37and we get ourselves latched on. It's a big problem for us.
15:41While the crew waits for the wind to die down,
15:44a resupply ship pulls up alongside Maersk-Peregrino.
15:48Crane operator Claire Gobetti's cabin is 36 metres above the deck.
15:53It's his job to hoist aboard everything from food to replacement parts.
16:07But the high winds and rolling ship are making a difficult job dangerous.
16:14As Claire starts to lift a fuel tank, it begins to swing uncontrollably.
16:27If the tank swings any more, it could smash into the ship.
16:30Claire has no choice but to dunk the tank into the sea to stabilise it.
16:44On the water, because there was really a bad moment, I could have a big accident.
16:49On his second try, Claire safely brings the stabilised load aboard.
16:56Despite the winds, preparations for the delayed hook-up continue.
17:01Up on the bow, the 17-tonne anchor is removed.
17:05Once Peregrino is hooked up, the buoy will hold the ship in position,
17:09so the anchor will no longer be necessary.
17:12If left in place, it poses risks.
17:15If it was dropped by accident, it could damage or even puncture the pipelines,
17:19bringing oil to the ship.
17:22Coordinating the removal of the anchor is Stefan Jorgensen.
17:35The Maersk attender is a large offshore tug.
17:39It's 90 metres long, but dwarfed by the massive Maersk Peregrino.
17:46She moves into position to receive the anchor.
17:49So we're going to offload it, and she will pull out the anchor and disconnect it off her deck.
17:55The anchor and chain are slowly paid out.
17:58Each link weighs 200 kilograms.
18:03A steel cable is used to pull the massive anchor onto the tug.
18:10Then it has to be disconnected from the chain.
18:13But the shackle is jammed.
18:16A cutting torch is the only option.
18:29The tug will take the anchor ashore, while the chain is pulled back aboard the ship.
18:40Maersk Peregrino is now one step closer to hooking up to the buoy.
18:46But weather conditions need to be just right, and things are still looking bleak.
18:53We're looking for wind speeds not in excess of 20 knots.
18:56At the moment we're around 30 knots.
18:59So we're still doing some preparations within the mean pool area for the pulling of the buoy.
19:05We expect to finish those today,
19:07but more than likely we're going to be waiting for a couple of days.
19:11One of the crucial steps in the hook-up operation is connecting a line from the buoy to a line from the ship.
19:17These lines will be tied together like a giant pair of shoelaces,
19:21hundreds of meters long and with a breaking strength of 1,800 tons.
19:27Once the lines have been connected, the buoy can be winched inside the ship's hull.
19:33While they wait for the weather to improve, crew members prep the lines.
19:38Today, as you can see, the weather is a bit rough,
19:40so we're trying to get all our prep work done before we actually pull in the buoy.
19:45The Maersk attender sends a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, down to the buoy,
19:50suspended 20 meters below the surface.
19:53The ROV checks the line and its connection to the buoy.
19:58Back on Maersk-Peregrino, the line from the ship is attached to a float
20:02and dropped through the open hull.
20:04It pops up alongside and is pulled onto the deck.
20:09We're going to try to fish it up with the grepnel here now,
20:11and just bring it on board, bring up the slack,
20:14and tell the guys down in the mean pool, let us know it's OK.
20:18So, success.
20:22The lines are in place and ready for the next operation.
20:27Now, all they can do is wait for Mother Nature.
20:32But Captain Yule is not optimistic.
20:36The latest forecast we received this morning
20:39indicates we will have a gale warning.
20:42There's no way we can operate in this weather.
20:46They need just one day with low winds to complete the hook-up.
20:51Until that happens, the entire operation is at risk.
20:57The ship is on hold.
21:03On board Maersk-Peregrino, everyone is on standby.
21:08The wind has to drop before the hook-up crew can bring in the buoy
21:11that will connect the ship to the oil pipelines.
21:17It's now four days since she left Rio de Janeiro
21:20for the normally calm waters of the Peregrino oil field.
21:24And costs are mounting.
21:26There are three ocean-going tugs standing by to assist in the hook-up operation
21:30at a cost of US$150,000 a day.
21:37But there's been an unexpected turnaround in the weather.
21:40We have a window of about 48 hours, and then the wind's going to pick up again.
21:44We started at daybreak, and we're going to keep going,
21:47hopefully, to finish the operation by the end of today, before we lose light.
21:51First of all, I have learned to have respect for the weather.
21:54And you cannot rely on it.
21:56So you take your chance when you have it.
22:00Moving Peregrino into position over the buoy is a precise operation,
22:04calling for muscle and finesse.
22:07One tug will hook up to the ship's bow,
22:10and another to the stern to guide Peregrino to the exact spot.
22:15Heavy-duty towing cables, capable of pulling the entire weight of the ship,
22:19must be winched from the tugs to Peregrino.
22:23But on the bow, there's a problem.
22:25The cable isn't spooling smoothly onto the drum.
22:31The problem is that we have to adjust the system a little bit,
22:34because it's spooling up on the one side,
22:36and it's building up, and there's not room to run out into the hydraulics.
22:40Then we have a problem. We need to pull back the wind machine.
22:44Head electrician Jack Harbour knows if it's not fixed,
22:48there could be lethal consequences.
22:50No good. Not with the load we're pulling with the tug.
22:52We've got the full weight of the vessel. A hell of a lot of weight.
22:55So there's an awful strain coming on this cable.
22:57So we need to get that sorted out now before we pull it in any further.
23:02The crew quickly connects a pulley to the cable to get it back on track,
23:06but it refuses to budge.
23:11The tension on the cable is nearing dangerous levels.
23:16Stefan Jorgensen steps into the danger zone to sort out the problem.
23:24With one towing line connected to Maersk Peregrino's bow,
23:28the second tug moves in off the stern.
23:31But now there's another problem.
23:33We've got the forward tug connected,
23:35so we're just in the process of doing the aft part.
23:37As you can see, we've got a little bit of issues
23:39just getting the chain onto the hook here.
23:43We've got enough people here. We know what we're doing.
23:45So we'll just take our time here.
23:49It worked. It worked. Finally.
23:52Now we've just got to slack it off and let it take the bait.
23:55We'll be OK. We'll be good.
23:58Together, the two tugs can haul 400 tonnes,
24:01more than enough power to move Peregrino over the buoy.
24:07Using highly precise and specialised GPS equipment,
24:10Sonny Lyons helps guide the ship into place.
24:14This is our FPSO here.
24:16That's the Magnus, one of the vessels that's towing us.
24:20That's the Peregrino, Scandi Peregrino.
24:23And here's the buoy.
24:25There's a little 7.8-metre circle in the centre
24:29that we're going to try and position right over that.
24:34Fighting wind and tide,
24:36the tugs must now hold Peregrino precisely in position.
24:40There's no room for error.
24:44The third tug, Maresca Tenda,
24:46is standing by with her ROV in the water
24:48to monitor the hook-up from below.
24:52It's coupled to the line from the ship.
24:55Peregrino is now connected to the buoy.
25:01Finally, it's time to winch the buoy through the hole in the ship's hull
25:04to complete the hook-up.
25:10They have just one shot.
25:12A single mistake could damage the seal between the buoy and the hull,
25:16shutting down the project for months at a cost of millions.
25:21We need to make sure that we're pretty comfortable with what we're doing
25:24because this sort of operation we're doing,
25:26you don't get a second chance.
25:29It's the moment of truth.
25:32Below the ship, the line begins to haul on the buoy
25:35that will finally anchor Peregrino in place.
25:39Hook-up manager Vincent Lawless keeps an eye out for trouble.
25:44At the moment, the 25-metre mark on the rope
25:46has just broken the water's surface,
25:48so that means we've now got tension in the pulling rope.
25:51We're starting to pull the buoy.
25:54At a rate of two metres per minute,
25:56the buoy nears Peregrino's hull.
25:59But the force on the winch is greater than expected.
26:04In fact, we went to 595 tonnes,
26:06that's within five tonnes of a safe working load, 600 tonnes,
26:09so we're 1% below the safe working load of the winch.
26:12With only that 1% margin of safety,
26:15the crew moves quickly to secure the buoy.
26:20It's a perfect connection.
26:26We're going to start draining the water out through the evening,
26:29so it's all gone very well, it's gone to plan, we're all very happy.
26:32Maersk Peregrino is now in position,
26:34locked to the buoy and ready to start her new life
26:37as an oil production installation.
26:40Her life as an oil tanker is over.
26:44On the bridge, Captain Fritz Juhl
26:46gives the order to shut down the engine for the last time.
26:50That's the last manoeuvre for the engine room now.
26:56The captain's job is done, and Dale Harris now takes command.
27:01So, it's all yours now. Thank you.
27:04And you need something to show you are in command now.
27:11That's very, very appreciated. That's an honour.
27:14Thank you very much.
27:16For these two men, life at sea has come full circle.
27:19Almost three decades ago, on another tanker,
27:22Dale was a junior officer, serving under Captain Juhl.
27:26A real honour, sailing with you again after 28 years.
27:29We meet again, and I hope it's not 28 years
27:31before we meet each other again.
27:33So, it's been an absolute honour and a pleasure.
27:36Thank you very much for all your help.
27:38Now that Maersk Peregrino is permanently moored,
27:41the job of the sailing crew is over.
27:43They've packed their bags and are heading to homes
27:46scattered across the globe, from Denmark to Singapore.
27:50But for the oil production workers, the job is just beginning.
27:55With the seawater pumped out,
27:57the buoy has to be locked into its final position.
28:00Right now we are adding shims to the buoy.
28:03That's to prevent the buoy from moving in the mating cone.
28:06There is about a slip of 40mm,
28:09and we want to be sure that there is absolutely no movement.
28:15It's a tough and smelly job,
28:17cleaning a buoy that spent a full year underwater.
28:21And it starts with dumping the hitchhikers.
28:27This morning, Peregrino will conduct a rotation test.
28:32The ship will be pulled in circles
28:34by the tug still attached to the stern.
28:37This test makes sure the ship will be able to move freely around the buoy,
28:41so the oil and power lines won't get tangled or broken.
28:49The scan date is a bit soon.
28:51We're still steady on about a turn rate of 3 degrees a minute.
28:55Everybody's happy?
28:57Very good, very good.
29:00Vincent watches and listens.
29:04We are moving. We are on the rotating vessel.
29:07On the part of the buoy inside is the stationary part,
29:10so we are moving around the stationary part of the buoy.
29:15The success of the test means that Mesk Peregrino
29:18is now just days away from receiving her first load of oil.
29:25This is a critical milestone.
29:27The moment when crude will flow from the platforms
29:30to the ship for the very first time.
29:36Offshore installation manager Gary Fearn is now in command.
29:40Control, control, who I am.
29:48Gary has taken over for his colleague Dale Harris,
29:52and it's his job to oversee the production of first oil.
29:58The pressure is on.
30:00Stating the obvious, there's a lot of money involved
30:03with developing a field of this size.
30:05Our clients, Statoil, have spent unimaginable amounts of money
30:08to get where we are today.
30:10My employer, Mersk, have spent something like $1.5 billion
30:14on this FPSO to date.
30:16That's just ridiculous sums of money to the man in the street,
30:20and they've not earned a single cent yet.
30:22So delivering that oil and putting the cash register active,
30:25if you like, is a big moment.
30:28A crew of welders and boiler makers
30:30is kept busy with last-minute reinforcements
30:33to one of the ship's immense oil-holding tanks.
30:36It's a hazardous environment.
30:42Marine supervisor Wojciech Petrowski
30:44and the ship's safety officer, Peter Cobby,
30:47have to inspect the work.
30:49But even that's dangerous.
30:51Both men have to take emergency breathing equipment with them
30:54into the tank.
30:56The safety equipment that we have to take in
30:58includes a 15-minute escape set.
31:00If we were to discover a fire
31:02or the gas detector was to be activated,
31:04the person who's leading
31:06would advise everybody to put their escape sets on.
31:09A gas detector is another potentially life-saving piece of equipment.
31:13This is a gas meter.
31:15Every time before tank entry, you have to activate,
31:18and if you get an alarm,
31:20you're supposed to escape immediately from the tank.
31:24It's a drop of 28 metres into the void of No. 5 starboard tank,
31:29a tank that will soon be filled with 20,000 barrels of oil.
31:37They're vast areas, and unless you've actually been in one,
31:41it's very difficult to appreciate what they're like inside.
31:44The best way for me to describe it is probably like being inside
31:47a very noisy, very warm, very dark cathedral.
31:52At the bottom of the tank, there are heating coils
31:55to stop the thick and highly viscous oil from solidifying.
31:58Every tank is equipped with heating coils.
32:01So these are tubes.
32:04In the tubes, the steam will circulate.
32:07So we'll maintain around 70 degrees Celsius of the fluid,
32:13because this fluid is very sticky with highly viscous fluid.
32:16While the guys are in here,
32:18it's important that we monitor the environment continuously.
32:21This is done by them inside the tank with portable gas detectors
32:25and also by the standby man up at the hatchway.
32:28So we do everything within our powers
32:30to make sure that nothing goes wrong whilst we're in the tank.
32:33They're basically just finishing off,
32:35just making sure that everything's perfect,
32:38and I'm in no doubt that it will be completed
32:41for first oil in a couple of days.
32:46Above decks, Gary does a final walkthrough
32:49with the clients on board representatives,
32:51Tom Paulson and Andres Wejdorf.
32:54Final testing's been done.
32:56Our guys today on the V train have done a good walkthrough
32:59with the system leak checks.
33:01Yeah, we do the final test, final inspection for oil, I'm sorry.
33:06And I'm glad that we have this plan for this equipment on the tank deck.
33:11After billions of dollars of investment,
33:13Andres is eager to see oil begin to flow.
33:16My sense right now is I have good feelings for this start-up.
33:22I think that the project, both on the Valar platforms
33:26and on the Mörskberg Rhino, has done a great job.
33:29And my feeling for safety, for a safe start,
33:32the oil production is really good.
33:35So for start oil, this is a very big milestone to reach.
33:42But with first oil comes an increase in danger for both ship and crew.
33:47Even a tiny spark could ignite the oil,
33:50and if not controlled quickly, the entire vessel could become an inferno.
33:59Guys, we've got a fire in module 11-8.
34:03To test his team, Gary holds a fire drill on the morning of first oil.
34:09The main deck is in flames. The fire team moves in.
34:16Safety officer Peter follows their performance.
34:20The scenario was that we had an oil spill at this location and an ignition.
34:25The OIM would have activated the deluge first,
34:28and then the fire teams would have come up.
34:30They would have braved the situation.
34:32The fire team leader then decided to deploy his men to this location.
34:36They set up a fire hose, and now they're just doing boundary cooling.
34:40The rest of the crew, everybody will have gone to muster.
34:43It's very important that the OIM accounts for everybody.
34:46In the event that somebody was missing,
34:48he may or may not decide to deploy other members of the ERP to search for them.
34:53It's extremely important that we account for everybody.
34:57They're gathered and counted at the lifeboat stations.
35:00Very well. We've managed to simulate an emergency scenario with a hydrocarbon release.
35:04We've brought that to a safe conclusion, and radiofibre is needed.
35:11With the crew already mustered for the fire drill, Gary gives a final briefing.
35:16OK, we're going to do our first oil town hall meeting this morning.
35:19This is an extraordinary meeting.
35:21This vessel was built on contract with Statoil to have best available technology.
35:25We've got the best equipment, and we believe we've got the best people.
35:29I don't want to devalue the fact that we will bring oil on board today.
35:33It would be wrong to say that's not without risk. It does carry risk.
35:37Anybody that sees something out there they might not be comfortable with,
35:40contact the control room, and if we need to shut it down, we'll shut it down.
35:44There is no issue. OK?
35:48It's been three months since Maersk-Peregrino left Rio de Janeiro for the oil field.
35:54More than five years since she began her overhaul in Singapore, everything is finally ready.
36:02Highly viscous oil will soon be moving through the lines and into Peregrino's heated storage tanks.
36:10The cargo control room is Peregrino's nerve centre.
36:14All systems are monitored and run from here.
36:17Control room operator Sean Maddock keeps a close eye on the pipelines running from Oil Platform B to the ship.
36:36But something's wrong.
36:38Hours pass and there's still no green light from the client's office in Rio.
36:46Hello, FBSO, Gary.
36:49Uh-huh.
36:53OK, so it just appears to be a clear-cut case of we just need a certificate.
36:57We just need the consent form.
37:01OK.
37:03All right, well, look, we're here, we're ready, we're waiting.
37:06I don't know if you have... I will do.
37:08The news is not good.
37:09OK, cheers just now. Bye.
37:12OK, I need to go to the control room and make a statement.
37:19Attention all personnel, attention all personnel, this is the OIM.
37:23For information, MERSC's FBSO Peregrino will not connect first oil until Monday morning earliest.
37:31I repeat, for information, FBSO Peregrino will not connect first oil at the carbon start-up until Monday morning earliest.
37:42It's a huge disappointment.
37:44The start-up is on hold for at least four more days
37:47because the Brazilian authorities want some additional last-minute guarantees.
37:52After the devastating 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the Brazilians are nervous.
37:59The main reason for the delay is that we are waiting for some signed papers from the authorities in Brazil.
38:07So we are waiting for the signature from the Department for the Environment in Brazil.
38:14It's another costly delay.
38:16Every day the field sits idle means millions of dollars in lost revenue.
38:21The pressure is on to start producing oil.
38:29MERSC Peregrino has been sitting idle for nine days, delayed by government paperwork,
38:35waiting to begin production of first oil.
38:39No oil means no revenue,
38:41and the interest payments alone on this billion-dollar facility are tens of thousands of US dollars a day.
38:50But finally, there's good news.
38:52Yes, good morning. Can I speak to Keld? Please, the OIM.
38:55Brazil's Department of the Environment has given the green light.
38:58It's a historic day for start oil.
39:00The Start Oil Rio office has just finally got the production license for producing oil at the Peregrino field.
39:09This is the final document where the government from Brazil tells us it's a go-ahead.
39:17Offshore installation manager Gary Fern primes his crew.
39:21Attention all personnel, attention all personnel, this is the OIM.
39:24We do now have confirmation that MERSC-CPSO Peregrino will be going hydrocarbon live in the next one or two hours.
39:34Taking on first oil and going hydrocarbon live means highly combustible oil is about to be pumped aboard Peregrino for the very first time.
39:45Because of the increased danger, fishing boats are supposed to stay 500 meters away from the ship,
39:51especially during first oil. So this is a delay they don't need.
39:56Radio operator Vitoria Pereira tries to warn the boat.
40:07Yeah, this normally happens. They usually ignore our call.
40:13So what I have to do now is to call the support tank boat to approach and speak to them to go away.
40:23With the fishing boat now clear, the valve to the ship's number three starboard tank is opened.
40:30In a few hours we expect to start producing the oil. That's why we're opening the line.
40:36Back in the control room, Gary calls his counterpart on oil platform B.
40:41Hi Kel, this is Gary. I'm in the control room now, so you guys are ready to go over there, yeah?
40:46What time have you got? We'll just synchronise watches and log this as our first oil commencing.
40:5212.43, OK, starting up the pump. OK, we'll log that. If you just want to proceed, then go ahead.
40:58And we'll keep an eye on it at the same time. Thanks, Kel.
41:01Months of drilling and preparation come down to this.
41:05On platform B, the taps are opened.
41:09So, we have the green light. Let's go start the production on perigrino B.
41:20OK, we have now three signals to start our production, OK?
41:28On perigrino, Gary breaks the good news to the crew.
41:32Attention all personnel, attention all personnel, this is the OIM. I would like to announce that platform B has commenced pumping oil to Merck FPSO Perigrino at 12.43.
41:44Well done, Arthur. It's a start. Matt, Rhian, it's the starting moment.
41:50Oil is now flowing into Perigrino's immense storage tanks.
41:54It won't be long until it's offloaded to waiting tankers to be shipped around the world.
41:59A sample is collected and analysed in Perigrino's on-board laboratory.
42:04This is great, actually. This is less than 0.1% of water and sediments.
42:09A successful culmination of years of work and billions of invested dollars.
42:15This is the first oil field where we are operating outside the Norwegian shelf.
42:21So, it's a very exciting moment for start-up.
42:23For Gary, it's been worth the effort, despite the headaches.
42:27You know, some of us have been involved a year, some have been two years, some have just been in recent months.
42:32Huge effort, huge personal commitment and it's the day that we get to bring it to life, you know.
42:37It's taken more than two years and 1.5 billion US dollars to convert Merck Perigrino from supertanker to cutting-edge oil production installation.
42:47But her transformation is finally complete.
42:51As the crude begins to flow, she truly is the heart and soul of the Perigrino oil field.
43:17www.perigrino.com