Wilson Sons News

Wilson Sons operates in the port and shipping logistics industry throughout Brazil, boasting more than 188 years of experience. They offer solutions to over 5,000 clients, including shipowners, importers and exporters, the offshore energy industry, renewable energy projects, the agribusiness sector, as well as other players across various economic segments. Engaged in the continuous pursuit of new technologies, Wilson Sons will participate in Intermodal South America, April 14-16…

Tidewater Inc. announced its 2025 results with Quintin Kneen, Tidewater’s President and CEO, commenting, “Although 2025 was anticipated to be a down year for the offshore industry, I am pleased to say that by all measures Tidewater was able to successfully navigate these challenges to deliver one of the best years in recent memory, demonstrating the resilience of the company we’ve endeavored to build over the last eight years.”The business generated year-over-year revenue growth, gross margin expansion and average day rate growth.

All-Cash Deal, Expanding Brazil FootprintTidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wilson Sons Ultratug Participações S.A. and its affiliate Atlantic Offshore Services S.A. (collectively, WSUT) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $500 million, including the assumption of existing debt.The acquisition significantly strengthens Tidewater’s position in the global offshore support vessel (OSV) market while marking a decisive expansion in…

Wilson Sons held a launch ceremony for the tugboat WS Halcyon Thursday, January 29, in Rio de Janeiro. It is the first of a new series of three high-powered tugs.Built at the company’s shipyard in Guarujá (São Paulo), WS Halcyon is a class 2312 tug (23 meters long and 12 meters wide) with azimuth propulsion and 70 tons of bollard pull, which is capable of supporting the world’s biggest ships on docking and undocking maneuvers in Brazil's main ports. It is also equipped with a firefighting system with a capacity of 2…

Shipping and logistics firm Wilson Sons has opened new facilities at its Training Centre and Towage Operations Centre in Santos, São Paulo, including a tugboat manoeuvre simulator designed to improve operating safety, efficiency and sustainability.This simulator will train the company's captains and maritime workers on safety procedures and cutting-edge technology for its fleet of over 80 tugboats, which operate in more than 25 ports along the Brazilian coast, supporting domestic and international trade…

Shipping and logistics firm Wilson Sons has started testing drones in the Port of Salvador to make vessel deliveries and pickups. The trials represent the first time the drones have been used to make deliveries in port facilities in Brazil.Speedbird Aero, which specializes in designing, manufacturing, and operating drones, owns the uncrewed aerial vehicles.In 2022, it was the first company to obtain authorization from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) to operate uncrewed…

This month, Wilson Sons received approval from ANP to conduct the first tests on using HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) in the Brazilian maritime sector, with efen and Port of Açu as partners.To replace marine diesel oil, efen will import HVO, also known as renewable diesel or green diesel, to be tested on Wilson Sons' tugs in the Port of Açu, in São João da Barra (Rio de Janeiro). The liquid handling operation will be conducted at the Açu Liquid Bulk Terminal (TLA), owned by Vast Infraestrutura.“After the testing period, we expect to expand the distribution of HVO to Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs) and other offshore support vessels in the Port of Açu…

Wilson Sons will start building in 2025 a new range of three powerful tugboats with sustainable technology at its shipyard in Guarujá, São Paulo. It plans on renewing and modernizing its fleet of more than 80 tugboats, which operate along the Brazilian coast.The three vessels are ASD 2312 (23 x 12m) tugs with azimuth propulsion and 70 tons of bollard pull, and are capable of supporting 366-m super container ships on docking and undocking maneuvers in the country's main ports.The new tugs follow the IMO TIER III standard established by the International Maritime Organization…

Investment holding company Ocean Wilsons has agreed to sell its 56.47% stake in Brazilian unit Wilson Sons to shipping services provider SAS for 4.35 billion reais ($764.9 million), it said on Monday.London-listed Ocean Wilsons, which is the controlling shareholder of shipping firm Wilson Sons, said in a statement it was a "compelling time" for the sale, after it announced last year it was reviewing its investment in the Brazilian company.The move by SAS, a unit of shipping giant MSC, follows French rival CMA CGM's $2 billion deal to buy port terminal operator Santos Brasil last month.MSC, a p

The Wilson Sons tug WS Onix has commenced operation in the Port of Santos, the largest port facility in Latin America.It is the sixth vessel in the company's 2513 class and was built at the Wilson Sons shipyard in Guarujá (SP). The six new tugs built over the last two years have completed more than 5,000 port maneuvers. They are 25 meters long and 13 meters wide, operate forward and aft with the same efficiency and can be used in port maneuvers and deep-sea towage.The tugs are equipped with over 90 tons of bollard pull and are the first ever in Brazil to meet the IMO TIER III standard…

Vale has signed a five-year contract with Brazil's Wilson Sons covering scheduled maintenance for seven of its vessels.Under the contract, scheduled maintenance will be carried out on Vale’s five tugboats and two ferryboats operating in Rio de Janeiro, at Wilson Sonss shipyards in Guarujá, Port of Santos.Operating on all five continents, Vale produces iron ore, pellets and nickel, and its vessels in Brazil provide port support, assisting the docking and undocking of ships at the Guaíba Island Terminal (TIG)…

Wilson Sons said it has started operations on WS Dorado at the Ponta da Madeira, Itaqui and Alumar terminals facilities in São Luís, Maranhão.Designed by the Dutch Damen Shipyards, it is the fifth powerful tug with more sustainable technology in a range of six 2513-class tugboats. Built at the company’s shipyards in Guarujá (SP), the new tug will support berthing and unberthing operations in these terminals facilities, attending large ships exporting iron ore, which carry up to 400,000 tons of cargo.WS Dorado joins the company's fleet of 11 tugboats in that region.

Brazilian shipping company Wilson Sons' controlling shareholder said on Monday it is conducting a strategic review of its investment in the firm, sending shares in both companies soaring 12%.London-listed Ocean Wilsons said in a statement that "all potential strategic options" would be considered as part of the review, but noted the move was at an early stage and there was still no certainty as to its outcome.It was responding to a Sunday piece by Brazilian newspaper O Globo saying that Swiss shipping group MSC was in talks to buy Wilson Sons, in a deal that could total around 5 billion reais

Eying recent demand increases and oil prices recovery in the international market, Brazil's largest tug operator says it is ramping up to support a growing number of offshore oil and gas projects expected to take off in the coming years.Globally, around 30 production floater contracts are now queued up for award over the next 18 months, assuming no major market disruption occurs and the supply chain can absorb the orders within this time frame, according to an in-depth market analysis recently completed by International Maritime Associates/World Energy Reports.Wilson Sons…

Brazil's largest integrated port and maritime logistics operator Wilson Sons said it is building four tugs that will reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions by more than 75%.The IMO Tier III vessels were developed by Damen Shipyards Group and are being built at Wilson Sons' shipyard in Guarujá. The total cost to implement IMO Tier III standards is US$290,000."Nitrogen oxide is a greenhouse gas, which can be 300 times more polluting than carbon dioxide itself. Tier III is a great differential of this project and shows how much we are in the vanguard of the Brazilian naval industry…

Wilson Sons, through its Towage unit, participated in the first ship-to-ship offshore operation for the transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through a ULGC (Ultra Large Gas Carrier) vessel of Q-FLEX type in Brazil. The ship is considered one of the largest gas carriers in the world with a capacity of 215,000 cubic meters.This unprecedented operation took place at the Celse’s terminal, in Barra dos Coqueiros (SE), and aimed to supply the Porto de Sergipe Thermoelectric Power Plant (UTE), operated by the company.

A new gas law in Brazil aims to see liquefied natural gas (LNG) will have a relevant role in the national market, a move that could drive new opportunties on the waterfront.Wilson Sons, the largest operator of maritime and port logistics in the Brazilian market, stands to benefit, and last year the company's Towage division carried out more than 25 special operations, which included services to the natural gas or LNG sector, as support for gas carriers and FSRUs (Floating Storage Regasification Unit)…

Wilson Sons will start in the first quarter of 2021 the construction of six tugboats, at its shipyards in Guarujá (SP), helping to grow the company's fleet, the largest in Brazil today with 80 tugboats. Click here to read a related story on the depth, breadth and growth of the Wilson Sons fleet from the November 2020 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.“The new series will contribute to the renewal of the fleet and will facilitate support for large ships that will stop over the next few years at Brazilian ports.

Wilson Sons is the largest integrated port and maritime logistics operator in Brazil, operating more than 80 workboats. Marcio Castro, Executive Director Tugboat Division, discusses with Maritime Reporter the size, shape & technical direction of the fleet.Mr. Castro, to start, how did you come to a career in maritime?I graduated in System Engineering at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), I also have an MBA in Business Administration (Coppead/UFRJ). I joined Wilson Sons in 2003…

Brazilian maritime logistics and port operator Wilson Sons has accepted the resignation of Cezar Baião from the position of CEO of Operations in Brazil, effective from March 5, 2021. The company has this week said that its board has accepted the nomination and decided to appoint Fernando Fleury Salek as CEO of Operations in Brazil.Salek has acted as CFO of the company's Brazilian subsidiaries and Head of Investors Relations for the past five years. He is an economist having graduated from PUC-Rio with a specialization in Corporate Finance, International Finance, and Marketing.

Wilson Sons creates intelligent tool to expedite tug maintenance   Brazil's largest tugboat operator has developed a chat bot that simulates conversations and handles demands for fleet repairs to help expedite diagnosis and services of corrective maintenance.Wilson Sons said it developed the intelligent tool to expedite tug maintenance  across its fleet of 80 tugboats. Designed by Tuglab, the company's innovation laboratory, and by the Maintenance and IT areas, a chat bot—a robot…

Brazilian port and maritime logistics operator Wilson Sons is installing internet and camera systems on its tug fleet to allow real-time visualization of operations and maneuvers, including by customers.Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) and Network Cabling project was developed by the company's innovation laboratory Tuglab, in partnership with the IT management of the company’s towage division.In total, 480 cameras and local internet network will be installed. The equipment has already been installed in almost half of the tugboat fleet…

Brasco, a part of the Brazil's provider of integrated port and maritime logistics and supply chain solutions Wilson Sons Group company, has partnered with APM Terminals Pecém to set up a temporary logistics base at the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex.It will be the first offshore port support operation to take place in Ceará, said a press note from APM Terminals, an international container terminal operating company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands.Scheduled to start in the first half of 2020, the logistics base will support the drilling of a well in block CE-M-717, located in the Ceará Basin and operated by Premier Oil, the British oil company.Among the services to be provided are cargo receiving and storage…