The Brazilian subsea market demands highly qualified professionals to operate and maintain the modern ROV systems used in subsea developments and intervention.

Recent surveys indicate that about 40% of the experienced subsea workforce in Brazil will be leaving the market within the next five to ten years.

In the wake of new oil & gas discoveries in deepwater pre-salt fields along the Brazilian offshore seabed, there is a huge demand for trainee ROV pilot/technician.

Since November 2006, RRC Robotica has been the only ROV training facility in Brazil, having graduated more than 400 ROV pilot/technicians.

As says the business associate manager and founder, José Ramos Duarte Jr., the company has already invested about U$500.000,00 (half a million dollars) in its operational base expansion, new equipment and professional development.

The company has signed a partnership with Perry Slingby Systems (PSS), bringing the world reknown quality and technology in custom ROV tooling and ROV systems and also having these tools in stock along with PSS ROV´s for sale or rent.

PSS, a member of the Triton group is the first ROV and Trencher manufacturer to have a partnership with a training institution in Brazil and is also the main ROV supplier for subsea work in the world and in the Brazilian market. In total PSS has delivered more than 500 ROV´s to customers worldwide.

PSS has pioneered the development of early work class ROV´s and also the introduction of modern computer hardware and software tecnologies, including their benchmark VMAX ROV simulator, which is also used by RRC Robotics in training prospective ROV pilots in Brazil.

The Deep Water Education Center is located in Macaé, the offshore capital of Brazil. This modern facility is owned and operated by RRC Robotica at their headquarters. It includes three VMAX simulators, auditorium for classes of up to 20 trainees and all other support systems and personnel required for ROV training.

ROV systems training developed by RRC Robotica is used by the Petrobras Corporate University and Petrobras Research Center (Cenpes), attesting to the high quality and operational excellence.

In two months or 64 hours of training, that can be condensed in a six day intensive course.
Technical courses in hydraulics, fiber optics and other areas related to ROV systems are also availabe, along with a purpose built electronics laboratories.

Prospective ROV pilots can also extend their simulator training time, which is worthwhile, even at an extra fee, as this extra simulator flight time is highly appreciated by the subsea industry.

Normally about 70% of the Deep Water Education Center graduates are hired by the industry soon after graduation.

The training syllabus for the Theoretical ROV training course at the Deep Water Education Center consists of:

Basic principles of ROV systems

ROV´s and their subsystems

Intervention ROV systems most commonly used in the world subsea market

Intervention activities done by ROV systems

Main ROV launch systems

Preventive Maintenance of ROV systems
Other training modules available:

Operational training through practical simulation of ROV system (Basic and Advanced)

Electronic Theory and Application for ROV systems

Fiber Optics

Hydraulic Theory and Application for ROV systems

High Voltage Safety
Subsea Tooling and Instrumentation

HSE awareness

Armored Cable Retermination

RRC Robotics specializes in ROV systems training, ROV systems consulting, auditing of ROV systems, subsea operations modeling, subsea engineering, rent, sale and maintenance of PSS ROV´s and tools.

RRC´s main clients are Acergy, FMC technologies, Petrobras, OGX, Fugro, DMS, Cenpes, Subsea 7, Sonangol, Symmetry, Estaleiro Mauá and Petrobras Corporate University.
RRC Robotica is also the Brazilian distributor for Sub-Atlantic electric ROV´s and their full range of ROV acessories. Sub-Atlantic is also a member of the Triton Group.

The high standards applied to ROV pilot/tech training by the Deep Water Education Center is at least on par and possibly even superior to the best ROV training centers in the world.

“Our investments will be continuous and we have been considering international partnerships in order to accelerate the process of our growth. Such actions strengthen our principles: providing the best technological solutions availablein the world” says Mr. Ramos, who has got over 20 years of experience in Remote Operated Vehicles.

Claudio Paschoa

http://www.maritimeprofessional.com/Blogs/Brazilian-subsea-news/October-2009/RRC-Robotica-launches-Center-for-Deepwater-Studies.aspx