Source: Ports and Ships / Danilo Oliveira
• Shipyard, which is building components for P-83 modules, has been considering building offshore vessels. Repair area has grown by 20% in the last 2 years
The Mauá Shipyard in Niterói (RJ) intends to strengthen shipbuilding in the coming years by increasing the production of metal structures at its facilities. The strategy, which will help consolidate its ongoing recovery process, also targets projects for new maritime support vessels that will be built in Brazil to meet Petrobras' demand. The group also has positive prospects for repairs, which have been growing by around 20% in the last two years.
The idea of resuming the construction of offshore support vessels is to bring to Mauá projects that are smaller in size than oil tankers, but that have high added value and that can be contracted with the shipowners who win the Petrobras tenders. The shipowners need the construction price to bid and to set up their capex, since these Petrobras tenders are based on the daily operating rate and provide for new ships with local content.
"Several shipowners have been asking us for prices. We gave them prices [quotes] for the PSV [supply transport] and OSRV [oil spill response] tenders and now we are going to give them prices [for RSVs — vessels equipped with robots] as well. We are providing prices for the shipowners who are entering the Petrobras tender," said the CEO of Estaleiro Mauá, Miro Arantes, in an interview with Portos e Navios.
The executive added that the manufacturing of metal structures and offshore structures takes advantage of the characteristics of the shipyard, which is an industrial park with the capacity to produce these large structures. Mauá was subcontracted by Seatrium (Jurong) to produce components for modules of the P-83 platform, owned by Petrobras. "I don't see Mauá building the modules. I see Mauá building part of the modules and building them where Brasa was (Ilha da Conceição), repeating what was done there at the time of Brasa," he said.
In addition to the offshore pancake modules, the Niterói shipyard manufactured structures for Subsea7 and Technip. “This is another market in which we work, we were able to certify and qualify and we are executing. We were certified, with qualified welders to manufacture large structures for Technip and Subsea7”, he mentioned.
Arantes stressed that the Mauá and Ilha da Conceição (formerly Brasa) sites are well located in Guanabara Bay, which favors module projects for upcoming platforms. "There are other Chinese and Korean companies approaching us because upcoming FPSO bids have local content that needs to be completed in Brazil," he revealed. He added that opportunities will depend on the local content compliance strategies adopted by the winners of the bids.
In recent years, with the slowdown in orders, Mauá has strengthened its area of maintenance, repairs and services for vessels in general. Arantes highlighted that the shipyard grew this activity by around 20% in 2023 and 2024. "From 2024 to 2025, we believe that we will increase our revenue in this repair and services segment by 20% to 25% again," he projected.
Currently, Mauá Shipyard has around 1.250 workers, with the expectation of reaching 1.500 by the end of 2025. According to Mauá's CEO, this workforce is currently dedicated mainly to offshore pancake services and other ship maintenance and upgrade work. He estimates that 90% of the shipyard's repair capacity is occupied.