Transpetro News

Brazilian oil workers union FUP said on Wednesday that intelligence staff at state-run Petrobras are aware of a potential plan to invade its Transpetro terminal located in the Maceio port in northeast Brazil.The threat comes as Brazil braces for more protests by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, after mobs rampaged through public buildings in the country's capital on Sunday.The union said "people identified with coup practices" were behind the plan, which also involves invading a distribution center owned by Vibra Energia in the same port, aiming to disrupt fuel supplies

Two Iranian vessels have been stranded for weeks at Brazilian ports, unable to head back to Iran due to lack of fuel, which state-run oil firm Petrobras refuses to sell them due to sanctions imposed by the United States.The vessels Bavand and Termeh came to Brazil a couple months ago carrying urea, a petrochemical product used as fertilizer. They were expected to load corn and return to Iran, but lacked enough fuel for the trip, the port operator in Paranaguá told Reuters.Food is not covered by U.S. sanctions, and Iran is one of the largest buyers of Brazil's agricultural commodities, importing more than 2.5 million tonnes of Brazilian corn so far this year — more than any other country.However, that trade is not usually carried by ships flying the Iranian flag.

Brazil auctioned off six port terminals for liquid fuels in the northern state of Para to private operators on Friday, with subsidiaries of state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA winning two of the areas.The government raised nearly 450 million reais ($117 million) in the auction of the terminals — five in the Miramar port in the city of Belem and one in the Vila do Conde port in the city of Barcarena.The rights to operate the terminals are the latest in a slew of assets Brazil is selling as part of its drive to shore up public finances and reduce a gaping budget deficit.In an auction broadcast online, Petrobras Distribuidora SA - also known as BR Distribuidora - won a 20-year lease on a terminal in the port of Miramar with a bid of 50 million reais ($12.94 million).Petrobras Transpo

For a long time there has been a deficit of trained maritime officers in Brazil, as for decades the only accredited training institutes were run by the Brazilian Navy, where a very limited number of prospective maritime deck and engine officers could be trained at its two training institutes in the country. That's all changing now with the Institute of Nautical Sciences (ICN) leading the way.With the discovery of the pre-salt in 2007 and the continued growth of the maritime and offshore sectors, the lack of qualified Brazilian officers became acute. For many years, and even today, most offshore captains and officers are foreigners, while there is a more significant number of local captains and officers in the merchant fleet.

Connectivity solutions provider KVH Industries, Inc. announced that Brazilian oil and gas transport company Transpetro has chosen KVH VSAT connectivity for the majority of its tanker fleet. Transpetro, which provides transportation for the Brazil's state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras, chose KVH’s TracPhone V7-HTS satellite communications antenna system with a five-year airtime contract for 45 tankers, including a combination of newbuilds and existing vessels. The installations will take place throughout the next 12 months in Brazil…

With 13 new contracts secured in Q4 2017, VARD Holdings Limited's order intake of NOK 3.79 billion in the quarter increased the full year order intake ended December 31, 2017 to NOK 8.28 billion. The new contracts include a luxury polar expedition cruise vessel for a return customer, PONANT. The vessel is the first electric hybrid cruise icebreaker with dual fuel propulsion, featuring high-capacity batteries and LNG storage on board. The vessel is specially designed to take passengers to polar destinations. Having strengthened its position in the fisheries and aquaculture market during the year, VARD was also awarded contracts for seven trawlers, two fish farming operation platforms, and three service/freight-and-service vessels.

Brazilian authorities plan to implement legislation to help prevent that vessels owned by exporters such as Petrobras and Vale wind up on South Asia's beaching yards, Bloomberg reported. The report said that earlier this month, authorities decided to develop a legal framework to ensure former Brazilian ships don’t end up with recyclers notorious for using dirty and dangerous methods, federal environmental watchdog Ibama said by email. Brazilian companies could face fines of as much as 10 million reais ($3.2 million) if Ibama finds they violate international standards by letting their vessels end up in substandard shipbreaking facilities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

NGOs and trade unions in Brazil have criticized the state-run Petrobras’ end-of-life fleet management by dumping toxic ships on South Asian beaches. The Brazilian Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores em Transportes Aquaviários e Aéreos, na Pesca e nos Portos (CONTTMAF) trade union federation and its member SINDMAR (Sindicato Nacional dos Oficiais da Marinha Mercante) have recently criticized the shipbreaking practices of Transpetro, the oil and gas transportation subsidiary of the Brazilian petroleum corporation Petrobras, majority-owned by the State. In the last five years, more than twenty vessels owned by the oil and gas giant have been dismantled on the beaches of India and Pakistan, where shipbreaking activities endanger both workers and the environment.

Designer and builder of specialized vessels Vard Holdings Limited announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016 (3Q 2016) and nine months ended September 30, 2016 (9M 2016). VARD said its diversification strategy is continuing to yield promising results, generating strong order flows in 3Q 2016. A total of seven new contracts were garnered by the group during the quarter, in addition to the confirmation of an order for four ice-class expedition…

Vard Holdings Limited (VARD) has increased its ownership stake in its indirect subsidiary in Brazil, Vard Promar, to 95.15%. Vard Promar, previously held 50.5% by VARD’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Vard Group AS, and 49.5% by a local partner, PJMR Empreendimentos Ltda. (“PJMR”), is the newest shipyard asset in the VARD portfolio. Following the recent closure of the Vard Niterói shipyard, the Group will concentrate all its Brazilian shipbuilding activities on the new yard, located in the Suape industrial area, in the state of Pernambuco. The shipyard, built between 2011 and 2013, has so far delivered one Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LGP) carrier for Transpetro, and is in the final stages of construction of a second one.

New order intake of NOK 6.2 billion from contract wins for 19 vessels. Vard Holdings Limited (“VARD”, and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), one of the major global designers and shipbuilders of offshore and specialised vessels, today announced its financial results for the second quarter (“2Q 2016”) and first half (“1H 2016”) ended 30 June 2016. VARD is committed to fostering new networks and growing its customer base beyond its traditional core markets, and has seen encouraging results thus far. Over the past quarter, the Group secured a total of 19 new shipbuilding contracts for a total new order intake of NOK 6.2 billion, making 2Q 2016 the best quarter in terms of order acquisition since 2013.

Vard Holdings Limited, a global designer and builder of offshore and specialized vessels, has delivered its first vessel from the group’s newest shipyard, Vard Promar in Brazil, on January 8, 2016. The vessel, a 7,000 m3 fully pressurized Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) carrier, is the second in a series to be delivered to Petrobras Transporte S.A. (Transpetro), and the first to be built entirely at and delivered from Vard Promar. The delivery marks an important milestone in the development of the new shipyard, and for VARD’s operations in Brazil. As of December 31, 2015, VARD had 29 vessels in its order book, eight of which for delivery from the group’s two shipyards in Brazil.

Two workers died at a construction project at a Brazilian oil terminal operated by state-run Petrobras on Tuesday, adding to a string of fatal and life-threatening accidents, a union representing oil workers said in a statement. The workers drowned after scaffolding they were erecting collapsed at the end of a pier operated by Transpetro, Petrobras' pipeline and shipping unit, the union, known as FUP, said. The pier was at Transpetro's Barra do Riacho Terminal in Espirito Santo state. The employees were wearing security belts even though work authorizations recommended that the employees only use life-jackets, FUP said. Locked to the scaffolding by the belts, they were dragged under water when the scaffolding fell.

The new ship Anita Garibaldi departed on Wednesday, June 3 from the Petro-Eisa A shipyard in Niterói (RJ), for its maiden voyage. The tanker is the 10th ship of the Program for Modernization and Expansion of the Transpetro Fleet (Promef) to go online. After leaving the shipyard, the ship headed for the Terminal Island Water in the Bay of Guanabara, where it will make its first load operation. There are currently 14 program vessels in different phases of construction, seven of which are in the finishing stage. Four of the vessels are due for delivery later this year.

The growth trend continues in the Brazilian shipbuilding industry, a trend that has been relatively constant during the last five year. While shipbuilding is ‘ship shape,’ the reality of the Brazilian ship repair industry is somewhat muddled, populated by only a few dedicated repair yards as the focus has been squarely on newbuild. On the other hand, Brazil’s ship conversion industry has enjoyed steady growth, growth directly related to orders from Petrobras, mostly to convert VLCC tanker hulls to FPSOs. According to Ariovaldo Rocha, President of SINAVAL (Ship Construction, Repair and Offshore National Syndicate), the investments in the shipbuilding industry have reached around $56.5 billion in the last decade and since 2004 the industry growth has averaged 19.5% per year.

Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA extended a leave of absence for the head of its tanker and pipeline unit, Transpetro, for 30 more days according to a filing on Friday. Transpetro President Sergio Machado stepped down temporarily on November 3 as police investigated a corruption scandal at the company that has delayed the release of audited earnings, implicated an array of major contractors and threatened to ensnare dozens of politicians. (Reporting by Brad Haynes and Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Reuters)

If and when Brazil gets its maritime act together, oh what a shipbuilding market force it could be. The modern Brazilian shipbuilding industry was established in the 1960s, induced by a broad and effective governmental policy. The 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of the merchant marine and shipbuilding industry in Brazil. The creation of the “Merchant Marine Fund” and the “Tax for the Merchant Marine Renewal,” in 1958, together with other specific targets set by the government at that time, made investments available to the shipbuilding industry and for the development of the merchant marine in general. Counting on such incentives, new shipyards such as Ishibras and Verolme were built…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) says it has decided to establish a ship-owning joint venture with Norway's Viken Shipping AS  to participate in a shuttle tanker project. The joint company is called Viken MOL AS, and will be managed from Viken Shipping's office in Bergen. The initial investment by the joint company will be the acquisition of a company belonging to the Viken Shipping Group, which owns five crude oil shuttle tankers currently serving on long-term charter contract with Petrobras Transporte S.A. of Brazil (Transpetro), a wholly owned petroleum and gas transport subsidiary Petrobras, Brazil's national oil company. MOL and Viken Shipping share an ambition to develop long term cooperation through Viken MOL AS…

MAN Diesel & Turbo diesel engines power the tanker, the second PROMEF ship built by Estaleiro Atlantico Sul (EAS). Powered by an MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type prime mover and 3 × MAN 7L23/30H auxiliary engines, the delivery ceremony of the ‘Zumbi dos Palmares’ was attended by the President of Brazil – Dilma Rouseff, President of Petrobras – Maria das Graças Silva Foster, and President of Transpetro – Sergio Machado. “We are proud to participate in this new chapter of Brazilian shipbuilding history”…

MAN Diesel & Turbo representatives attended the delivery ceremony of the Suezmax tanker Zumbi dos Palmares. Powered by an MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type prime mover and three MAN 7L23/30H auxiliary engines, the vessel is the second ship built by Estaleiro Atlantico Sul (EAS) stemming from the Brazilian Government’s PROMEF shipbuilding program. The ceremony took place at the EAS shipyard in northeastern Brazil and was attended by the President of Brazil – Dilma Rouseff, President of Petrobras – Maria das Graças Silva Foster and President of Transpetro – Sergio Machado.

Marintec South America Completes 10 Editions with the Brazilian Shipbuilding and Offshore Industry Pursuing Excellence and Global Competitiveness. Brazilian shipbuilding and offshore industry want to occupy a new space in the naval industry in the world map. The resumption of investment, driven by orders from Petrobras planned by 2020, created a promising scenario for the shipyards and the chain of services and supplies. The goal now is another: Creating a sustainable market in the long term and strengthen the global competitiveness of domestic firms. This is the balance at the tenth Navalshore - Marintec South America - Conference and Exhibition of Shipbuilding and Offshore 2013 event held between August 15-17 at the SulAmerica Exhibition Centre, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

SSI and its representatives continue to engage with leaders of the shipbuilding and offshore industry to help increase productivity and solve business challenges. On April 23, Sincronia, SSI's representative for ShipConstructor software in Brazil, is sponsoring the first seminar focused on the shipbuilding and offshore construction cluster in the state of Pernambuco. Estaleiro Atlântico Sul (EAS) and the American Bureau of Shipping are cosponsors of this event which has been organized by SOBENA (Society of Brazilian Naval Engineers), in partnership with Petrobras, Transpetro, EAS, FIEPE and the Federal University of Pernambuco. The seminar…

A hallmark of the global maritime industry is the proliferation of smaller, family founded and managed businesses. R.W. Fernstrum is one such company: a ubiquitous presence for more than 65 years providing engineered cooling solutions to maritime and offshore markets. MR  went to Menominee, MI, to meet with Sean Fernstrum and his team for insights on the unique products it produces and the markets it serves. R.W. Fernstrum & Company of Menominee, Mich., is a leader in engineering and manufacturing keel cooling technologies…