Progress in Brazil Repair Yard Project

The Brasil Basin Drydock Company (BBDC), a joint venture of McQuilling Services and Promon Engenharia, is setting up an industrial facility that will drydock and repair seagoing merchant vessels up to the largest merchant ships in the world.

McQuilling announced the signing of a Protocol of Intention with the government of the state of Paraíba, Brazil, along with Chinese ship repair yard IMC YY.

David Saginaw, Commercial Director for McQuilling Services, signed the Protocol on behalf shareholders of the Brasil Basin Drydock Company (BBDC).  

Governor João Azevedo signed on behalf of the government and Chen Yong, President of IMC YY ship repair yard in Zhoushan, China, signed on behalf of the yard.  

IMC YY leads the global ship repair industry in the introduction of green ship repair technologies and maintenance sciences, and will operate the EDPI facility under a long-term agreement, employing the same green repair principles as in their Zhoushan facility.

The BBDC project will be the largest purpose-built ship repair yard in the south Atlantic basin, and when completed will feature two large graving docks for dry-docking vessels up to the size of Valemax ships and a hydrolift for smaller offshore support vessels.  

Part of a larger, harbor-wide Cabedelo development initiative, the US$ 900 million project will be located in the municipality of Lucena in the state of Paraíba, across the harbor from the Port of Cabedelo, at the easternmost tip of South America and built in several phases.

Planned for a drydocking throughput of more than 120 vessels per year, the BBDC’s Empresa de Docagens Pedra do Ingá (EDPI) repair yard will create 6,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction and employ 1,500 people when operational.  Another 4,500 jobs are expected to be realized in supporting businesses.

Commenting on the signing event, Saginaw noted: “This marks a key accomplishment for the project and is the latest milestone in a long list of successes.  With environmental and engineering activities on track, our focus now is raising the primary equity for Phase One, about US$ 70 million, with a target for first repair operations to commence in 2022.”

John Schmidt, President of McQuilling Partners, Inc., the parent group of McQuilling Services, said: “The BBDC project aligns well with our strategy to serve our clients through participation in a wide range of related marine logistics activities, and we look forward to the next stage of this project”