Interview with Umberto Ezio Enrico Tomasi

Oceânica: What’s your function at Petrobrás?
Umberto: At PETROBRAS I’m Senior Technical Project in Construction and Assembly.

Oceânica: Report a little about your professional career.
Umberto: I joined at Petrobras in 1974 in the construction of President Getúlio Vargas refinery in Paraná. Over these 35 years, always held my activities in Engineering, having worked in construction, assembly and installation of platforms in the Campos Basin, inspection of manufacturing, construction and installation of pipelines and terminals, planning, project tracking, etc.. In 1994 I was transferred to the SEQUI in Sao Jose dos Campos which started at Personnel Qualification in Dimensional Control area. In 1996, I started at personnel qualification of underwater survey. During this period, it was already in process the creation of the National System of Qualification and Certification in the form, which was effectively implemented in 2006.

Oceânica: What is that motivates you to exercise the current activity at most?
Umberto: What motivates me are the challenges that are presented to each discovery of PETROBRAS (ultra deepwater, pre salt), to participate even indirectly in the world of diving with all its complexity. I had been involved in most of the inspectors underwater process, who work in the market today and this is a reason for pride and satisfaction.

 Coworker from Oceânica and Umberto Tomasi

At the end of 1970, in the beginning of decate 1980's, Petrobras began the exploration and production of oil on the continental platform of Brazil.

With the installation of the first fixed platforms of oil production in the Campos Basin, arise the necessity of a system for personnel qualification to work in the inspection of them, both for maintenance and classification attached to classification societies.

Petrobras by Sequi, CENPES and DEPRO (former name of current E & P), developed its own system for the personnel qualification at underwater area, building upon the system already used for the North Sea by The Welding Institute to CSWIP.

The developed system provided the skills developed in Visual Test, Measurement of Electrochemical Potential, Measurement of Thickness of Ultra Sound, magnetic particles, the yoke and coil techniques, Photography and Televisioning.

In the 1990s, had been developed the National System of Qualification and Certification of Personnel in the area underwater, making it part of the ABENDE system, Brazilian Association of Non-Destructive Test.

The main difference between the systems ABENDE and Petrobras is that in the second one the candidate to be able to submit himself to the process of qualification shall necessarily be working in a company under contract with Petrobras. At ABENDE system, any candidate who fills the prerequisites can be a candidate to the examinations of qualification. At ABENDE system, in the SEQUI became a CEQ (Qualification Center) of ABENDE.

The standard that determines the rules for the qualification is the NA-003 of ABENDE. All necessary information can be obtained from the site of ABENDE (www.abende.org.br).

Nowadays, the techniques of photography and Television there are no more as isolated qualification, which in the last review of the NA-003 became part of the qualification in visual testing.

Beyond the above qualifications, has been created the ACFM qualification. This technique aims to replace the magnetic particles testing and has as main advantage the size of the depth of crack.

To apply the tests for qualification, candidates must demonstrate at the ABENDE the following prerequisites:

- Be certified professional diver
- Be with the health examination updated
- Visual acuity
- Education (minimum high school)
- Supervised Training supervised by a Level 3

The exams are composed of:

- A general theory test with multiple choice questions, which candidates must achieve a minimum recovery of 70%
- A specific examination about survey procedure. This exam is currently descriptive, in other words, the candidate must write the answers to questions. The candidate must also obtain a minimum recovery of 70% in this examination. The procedures on which the candidate will be accused can be viewed and printed on the same site above.

A practical examination in the case of visual test has two times, one emerged and submerged and the other just submerged. In this examination the candidate must achieve a minimum recovery of 80%.

If you do not obtain satisfactory results in examinations, the candidate will receive a checklist indicating the items which failed. These lists will serve primarily to guide your retraining.

If approved, the candidate receives from ABENDE a certificate and a portfolio showing the manner for which he is able to act as qualified and certified inspector.

The labor market for qualified inspector underwater is quite attractive. The qualified underwater inspector, nowadays, has a field of work that is not limited to the Campos Basin. Petrobras is increasing the requirements in the basins of the northeast and also for the inspection of Piers stake, single buoys and other offshore structures. Moreover, there is the inspection of embankments, bridges and other structures that the development will certainly require qualified inspectors.

Finally, the qualified professional should always be in development, because the speed of development of techniques and equipment used is accelerated. We can relate as an example, the photography and televisioning that until recently were made using conventional equipment and now is digital.

Umberto Enrico Tomasi Ezio