Welders from Itaguaí Construção Naval go to Europe to work on a French nuclear submarine thanks to the technology transfer program of PROSUB companies

Brazilian Shipbuilding had yet another reason to be proud, ICN (Itaguaí Construções Navais) has just sent thirteen welders to France, eight from Itaguaí and the others from Santa Cruz, Jesuítas, Campo Grande and Angra dos Reis.
The group is formed at the company's welding school and the trip is part of the technology transfer program with Naval Group Itaguaí, a partnership between Brazil and France, responsible for building five submarines for PROSUB (Navy Submarine Development Program), 4 conventional models (diesel-electric) and 1 powered by nuclear propulsion.

The group will work on welding the hull of one of the Barracuda nuclear submarines, which will be part of the French fleet, for six months, divided into two three-month periods.
The choice of professionals was due to the high standard of excellence in the work and the welders were qualified in complex processes and carried out rigorous tests on plates from 55 to 110 millimeters, normally used in nuclear submarines.

Engineer Luiz Antonio da Silva, welding coordinator at ICN, highlighted that: “The result is impressive, many steps considered of high technical complexity were completed by the chosen group without any errors, showing how much we were right to invest in the training of these professionals here at Rio de Janeiro".

Training of welders

The ICN Welding School was founded in 2013, today it has 129 members and has already trained 174 workers. The training lasts about three months including theory and practice.

The welding coordinator also added that: “They were selected according to the results presented and the quality of their welds, repair rate and defects, in addition to behavior, posture, attendance, commitment to the work performed”.

The work of welders in France is really worthy of pride, which demonstrates all the capacity of the Brazilian Shipbuilding worker, in addition to serving as a stimulus to the development of the population that lives around the shipyard, located in Itaguaí.
According to coordinator Luiz Antonio da Silva,

The trip of these workers to France is a recognition of the work of the ICN, which believed in and qualified professionals so that they would be prepared for the construction of the first Brazilian nuclear submarine and the coordinator must emphasize the legacy for engineering and Naval Construction in the country .

Did you see that the Águas Azul Consortium was the big winner of the Navy tender and the Corvettes will be built in Itajaí, SC? Go here and read the article!