20 | AREA REPORT Brazil
Slow motion OSRV contract typifies nature of Brazilian market Contracts continue to be few and far between in Brazil, and the wait for those that are awarded can be interminable by Rob Ward
Aker Wayfarer was recently converted for a contract in Brazil
D
uring the roundup of developments in Brazil in the May issue of OSJ, it was noted that managers at Petrobras – the state-owned oil giant, which controls about 90 per cent of the offshore support vessel market – were reluctant to make decisions because of the ongoing Lava Jato (Car Wash) scandals, and that trend has continued. However, there are still six ongoing tenders, and one of them has at least made some small, tentative progress. The tender for oil spill recovery vessel (OSRV) 750s of Brazilian or foreign flag began in November of last year. The deadline for bids was 15 April 2016, and in July of this year, the beleaguered
oil company at least made one decision – to disqualify 16 bidders out of the 27 vessels that started the bidding earlier this year. Norwegian company OSM – which specialises in ship management and crewing but is also an Empresa Brasileria de Navegação (EBN, or Brazilian Shipping Company) – is acting as EBN for eight of the remaining 11 OSRVs and is hopeful that a contract could be signed by the end of this year. As is so often the way with Petrobras charter contract tenders, the bidding companies do not know how long the contracts will be for nor how many vessels will be chartered in. OSM is representing Varada and Nautilus (with four
Offshore Support Journal | September 2016
vessels from each) in the bid for OSRV 750s and is hopeful of success. The four Varada ships are Varada Ibiza, Varada Ilheus, Varada Maresias and Varada Santos, and the Nautilus vessels are Emblem, Indigo, Jacaranda and Jubilee. Asgaard Navegação, the Rio de Janeiro-based OSV outfit with Patricia Coelho at its head, also has three OSRVs qualified for the tender – Asgaard Sophia, Maridive 212 and Maridive 231. OSV operators who lost out included OceanPact Serviços Marítimos, Norskan DOF Offshore, Companhia Brasileira de Offshore (CBO), Astro Internacional (sister company to Astromarítima) and Olympic Marítima and Pan Marine.
Of these, the first three firms will be bitterly disappointed as all the vessels they put forward were Brazilian-flagged vessels, and they usually get first bite at the cherry – a Petrobras cherry that is ever diminishing in these tough times. Most failed because of “non-compliance with financial analysis requirements”, according to Petrobras, but this development is something of a mystery. It is possible that the rejected Brazilian-flagged vessels will now join a pool of other Brazilian-flagged vessels anchored in Guanabara Bay, which can block attempts by other OSVs to obtain contracts. As one experienced OSV consultant said, “There could be some interesting scenarios
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