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R/V Gyre begins the coastal and environmental monitoring contract for Petrobras

In March 2006, GSI-Brooks signed a contract with PETROBRAS to provide research vessel the R/V GYRE for a two-year contract - “Coastal and Oceanic Environmental Monitoring”, along the Brazilian Geological Basins. The R/V GYRE was previously Texas A&M University’s (TAMU’s) research vessel operated by its Department of Oceanography. TDI-Brooks purchased this vessel from TAMU in November 2005. The consortium GSI-GALÁXIA chartering contract is a partnership between GSI-BROOKS and GALÁXIA, Brazilian Ship Company responsible to the Gyre operation.

PETROBRAS, the Brazilian National Oil Company, developed this project to recognize the Environmental Impact Assessment of all production and drilling areas. The contract involves a series of oceanographic campaigns including chemical, physical, geological and biological components for environmental characterization and monitoring. The first campaign started in the Campos Basin with the environmental monitoring of the platform P-40 production area and also the pre-drilling monitoring for future installation of FPSO P-54 (figure 1).

GSI-Brooks’ office is located in Ipanema beach at Rio de Janeiro, from where the managers and the technical staff coordinates this project. Two teams of 12 Brazilian and US trained scientists conduct the 14 day periods of oceanographic campaigns. The R/V GYRE is outfitted with state-of-art technology in oceanographic equipment and navigation. Some of the equipment on the vessel includes a SeaBird 911 CTD/Rossette/Niskin bottle package with oxygen, pH, altimeter and fluorescence sensors; Ocean Surveyor 75 kHz ADCP; Mocness zooplankton sampling system; Kongsberg HPR410 USBL and EA400 fathometer; and C-Nav and Winfrog navigation system, precision scale of 20 cm. The twin electro mechanic winches of Gyre drops at 5,000 deep to collect the box core and piston core samples.

For the last thirty (30) years, the Environmental Agency (IBAMA) has been in charge of Brazilian Petroleum Exploration, to provide the exploration and production licenses, upgrades data banks and to promote the petroleum assessment. The major researching area was Campos Basin where R/V Gyre is now conducting 470 box coring samples of: metals, n-alcanes, HPA and TPH hydrocarbons, foraminifera, bacteriological and benthology triplicates. This is the largest environmental evaluation of PETROBRAS, having twelve drilling and production areas from 100 to 2.600 meters monitored (figure 2 and 3).

The R/V Gyre has also monitored E&P activities in Santos and Espirito Santo Basins throughout September and October campaigns. Three drilling areas in the Santos Basin were monitored by box core radial samples. The campaigns in Espirito Santo Basin included the monitoring research of production areas such as SEILLEAN TLD and FPSO Capixaba (figure 4 and 5) and one more Exploratory Activity site, (ATEX) with CTD collections, water and sediment samples.

The aim of the project is to study the aquatic environment directly or indirectly impacted by PETROBRAS’ projects, enterprises and coastal and oceanic installations, besides subsidizing the corresponding processes of environmental licensing and decisions for the environmental management, as well as the accomplishment of engineering projects.