Miros Group, Ulstein Belga Marine in Record OSD Delivery to Petrobras

Sea-state monitoring leader Miros Group is set to supply eight Oil Spill Detection (OSD) systems to Brazilian oil major Petrobras in the world’s largest x-band radar-based OSD surveillance and response contract to date. The agreement is in partnership with Ulstein Belga Marine, primary supplier to Petrobras, and includes radars and thermal imaging cameras for Petrobras Mobile Offshore Production Units (MOPUs) in the Campos Basin. Delivery and commissioning are scheduled for 2019.

The backdrop for the record delivery is a February 2018 agreement reached between Petrobras and the Brazilian federal Environmental Agency, Ibama, committing Petrobras to recently enhanced Ibama standards for controlling oil discharge in water.

“We have been supplying OSD systems since 2004, and this delivery signals a new milestone for Miros in partnership with Ulstein Belga Marine,” says CEO Andreas Brekke. “Not only for the volume, but for the significance of our common contribution in supplying a solution which will help Petrobras meet its environmental obligations to Ibama and the Brazilian government.”

Miros OSD provides continuous day and night automatic oil spill detection and alerts using a combination of x-band radar, thermal imaging, AIS vessel tracking, and gyro-stabilized daylight and infrared cameras. Miros systems are deployed on offshore installations, vessels or shore based stations, either as standalone systems or as a part of a sensor network. 

Miros OSD has been verified in oil-on-water exercises and has successfully guided spill response operations in actual oil spill incidents. The solution combines high-accuracy early detection with a low false alarm rate, thereby optimizing response efforts while minimizing manual interaction.

“Requirements to reduce the environmental impact from offshore activities are tightening everywhere,” says Brekke. “Miros OSD can help give authorities and operators alike the confidence that they are applying the best available technology to detect, control and recover oil spills.”