In Venezuela, BOURBON is on all fronts

On the Bourbon Liberty 162, captain Oleksandr Shestov and his crew carried out a support mission for Technip, during the evaluation of a natural gas field located off the coast of Venezuela. Here’s the story.

Mission location: Paria Peninsula, in Sucre state, Venezuela. Located at a depth of 130 meters, the Dragon Field gas field consists of 8 wells, 2 of which are currently under evaluation. The field represents the first phase of a natural gas exploration mission known as the Mariscal Sucre Project, under the auspices of the national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), assigned to the operator Technip. 
"Venezuela is rich in hydrocarbons", Oleksandr Shestov, captain of the Bourbon Liberty 162 reminds us. "With the 3 other natural gas fields included within the perimeter of the project, Dragon Field will make it possible meet the booming domestic market's energy requirements", he explains.

Technip has been a long-standing BOURBON client in Venezuela, via its regional operational entity COFRI. "They selected us as a strategic partner. We have been by their side for all of their projects in Venezuela", explains Mauricio Valencia, Contracts Manager for the Caribbean zone. "This time, we were involved in pipeline operational support and crew rotation for Technip's local fleet", he goes on to explain. Duration of BOURBON's involvement: nearly 5 months, from August 27^th 2016 to January 20^th 2017. 

A COALITION OF SYNERGIES 

For the mission requirements, BOURBON used neighboring island Trinidad and Tobago as a logistics hub and commissioned 3 vessels:

• 2 PSVs, the Bourbon Liberty 162 and 163, for equipment transportation,
• 1 Crew boat, the Surfer 2612. 

What was Liberty 162's mission? Liberty 162 shuttled between Trinidad, Venezuela and Technip's DSV Wellservicer vessel once a week in order to supply it with equipment, resources and compressed gas, including heliox, a hazardous mixture of helium and oxygen. "To minimize risks, we were very careful to follow the International Maritime Organization's code with regard to the transportation of hazardous goods", explains Oleksandr Shestov. Best practices for maritime operations were ensured by the international crew of 13 (Ukrainian, Russian, Colombian, and Venezuelan nationalities). "They are all excellent seafarers and professionals", adds the captain. 

In short, all of the qualities required to successfully operate a vessel with unique features, just like its mission partner, the Bourbon Liberty 163, which provided surface support during the pre-commissioning phases: a large cargo deck area, high cargo capacity, class 2 dynamic positioning, and optimized fuel consumption. 

And this fantastic crew/vessel team is obviously providing entire satisfaction to the customer. "Technip is very happy with BOURBON vessels. They appreciate our skilled, responsible crews", the captain says. "In addition, after each of our operations, the client expressed satisfaction about the work completed, in particular with regard to safety issues."