Offshore vessel construction in Norway may not have returned to the highs seen last decade, but Brazil’s thriving offshore sector is generating new business for the country’s ship designers, equipment suppliers, and builders.
“They are buying a lot of vessels,” Sivert Olsvik Sæther, Brunvoll Business Development & Marketing Manager told Seatrade Maritime News. “South America is ramping up oil production, we were early at it, and we took a lot of knowledge with us from our operations.”
Norwegian offshore support vessels (OSVs) have been winning lucrative contracts with state-owned energy major Petrobras since late last year, with DOF Group, Solstad Offshore, Havila Shipping all signing deals to relocate their highly advanced OSVs and anchor-handlers to Brazilian waters.
In one deal, anchor-handling tug (AHTS) Normand Ferking repositioned from Norwegian to Brazil in February, using biofuel treated with vegetable oil, which owner Solstad Offshore said would demonstrate the company’s commitment to cutting emissions.
Norwegian shipyards have been tapping opportunities in Brazil too. Earlier this year, Green Yard Kleven, based in Ulsteinvik, agreed its fifth vessel conversion contract with Brazil’s Oceanica, to enable the vessel to carry out ROV operations.
Bauta, a company sent up in 2013, hires shipyards around the West Norway region to conduct welding and repair jobs. “We only pay when we use them,” said Gjermund Kvernmo Langset, head of Business Development and Sustainability. “If you own a shipyard you have to pay all the time. That keeps costs low, and makes the Norwegian industry competitive against industry in other countries.”
Brazil is providing the yards with plenty of work, Langset said. “We have a lot of projects for Brazilian shipowners in recent years, because it’s cheaper for them to sail the vessel to Norway and do the work here, than it is to do it in Brazil.
“Which is strange. But it’s due to the low currency of the Norwegian krone, and we maybe provide some efficiency.”
