Author: Rafael Bortoloti

AHTS 21000 Thor II of owners Star Matrix (India) has recently concluded her term contract in Brazil. The vessel arrived in Brazilian waters July 2022 and has since been engaged in the AL-SUB project for end-client Petrobras. Throughout the Superpesa contract, she retrieved anchors, chains, suction piles and torpedo piles for Petrobras in Campos basin. We are pleased to have mediated the charter fixture as well as supported owners from vessel´s mob to Brazil, arrival and up to conclusion of her charter.

Petrobras released this week the official results  for the multiple-category PSVs tender that sought to charter up to 9 vessels with delivery for December 2023. Expectations were high and it was common sense in the market that Petrobras would end up awarding a good number of vessels  for this opportunity as this was seen as a “second round”  from a previous tender  last year where the Oil Major was not able to hire as many vessels as, most likely, originally intended.

However, out of the 16 candidates presented in this opportunity, Petrobras’ official report disclosed the award of just one vessel, Starnav Aquila, as PSV 4500 General Cargo. All remaining vessels were disqualified for excessive pricing with the exception of Starnav Cepheus and Bravante I, neither of which met the delivery windows, and CBO Copacabana for not complying with tender requirements.

Two accommodation tenders by Petrobras (N15 and N16) have recently closed. The tender foresees a contract period of 1460 days firm and requires the units to have 450 PAX capacity for Petrobras. The N15 tender had Aquarius Brasil offered at a daily rate of USD 109.888,00 followed by Posh Arcadia and Posh Xanadu, both at a daily rate of USD 115.000,00. The opportunity N16 had Posh Arcadia in first place at USD 115.000,00 followed by her sister ship at the same value. In the next few weeks and upon conclusion of technical assessments, Petrobras shall publish the official commercial classification and announce the awarded unit.

Belov Mares, the brand new PSV acquired by Belov Engenharia has concluded its modifications to the Petrobras OTSV contract. All adaptations took place in Belov’s own yard in Salvador, Bahia and the vessel has already arrived in Rio de Janeiro for trials and inspection by Petrobras. The charter of Belov Mares as OTSV came as a result of the Petrobras opportunity 7003569267 from 2021, which awarded the vessel a 4-year firm contract, after Belov was qualified first in the reverse auction process.

Oceanpact has taken over the two AHTSs Skandi Saigon and Skandi Pacific from DDW Offshore, a subsidiary of investment company Akastor. The two vessels were hired by Oceanpact under a bareboat agreement plus purchase obligation back in 2021. Now with the completion of the firm period, the Brazilian owners have disbursed USD 18MM for both vessels. The two anchor handlers have
been renamed Rochedo de São Paulo and Rochedo de São Pedro respectively and are both under AHTS-TO long term contracts with Petrobras until 2025.

Petrobras informed that the Búzios field, Santos Basin, the largest in the world in ultra-deep waters, reached in June the production of 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This result was reached just five years after the beginning of operations in the field. The Búzios field operates with five FPSOs: P-74, P-75, P-76, P-77 and Almirante Barroso. Petrobras’ Strategic Plan provides for the installation of six more units in Búzios by 2027 when capacity is expected to reach 2 million boed.

Petrobras is taking another step towards the decarbonisation of its activities in the oil and gas market. This time, the Brazilian oil company issued a tender to hire studies to assess future scenarios for the decarbonisation of maritime transportation. The contract involves the evaluation of options to decarbonise vessels through logistics and digitalization, hydrodynamic and machinery improvements and the use of technologies for carbon dioxide capture and alternative fuels such as hydrogen,
methanol, biodiesel and LNG. Earlier this year, Petrobras chartered its first AHTS equipped with hybrid propulsion. As previously mentioned in our Weekly Market Update, AHTS Mr Chafic of
owners BRAM (Edison Chouest Offshore) is expected to achieve an emission reduction of 15% upon completion of the battery’s installation.

AHTS 15000 Bushbuck has recently arrived in Rio de Janeiro. The vessel, under Bram Offshore management, has been mobilized and is expected to commence a long-term charter with 3R Petroleum in the coming weeks. In the meantime, AHTS 9000 Elizabeth C is engaged with 3R as Bushbuck’s front runner. Besides the Bram vessels, 3R has also chartered the PSV 3000 Ilha de São Sebastião from owners Oceanpact.