South America News

Russia has begun shipping oil and refined products to Bolivia, helping to tackle a fuel shortage in the country, and expanding its presence in Latin America as Western sanctions have forced Moscow to seek new markets, traders and shipping data show.After the full EU embargo on importing Russian oil products took effect in February 2023, Brazil has become one of the biggest importers of Russian fuel. Russia has also increased exports to Venezuela, Jamaica and Cuba.According to LSEG…

Norwegian offshore supply vessel company DOF Group has secured multiple contracts with Petrobras for work offshore Brazil.AHTS Skandi Jupiter and AHTS Skandi Mercury, both under management contracts with DOF, have been contracted by Petrobras to operate as AHTS 230t BP after the same competitive tender process earlier this year that led to the contract of Skandi Amazonas, Skandi Rio and Skandi Botafogo.Both Skandi Jupiter and Skandi Mercury are currently operating in the North…

Singaporean rig- and shipbuilder Seatrium has tapped the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) to class a pair of floating production storage and offloading units (FPSO) being built for Brazil's state-owned Petrobras, the classification society announced. Slated for delivery in 2029, the FPSOs P-84 and P-85 will be deployed in the Atapu and Sépia fields, located in the eastern part of the Santos Basin, approximately 200 kilometers offshore of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Each have a production capacity of 225…

The Panama Canal authority said on Wednesday that recent rains boosted water levels, allowing heavier ships with larger cargo loads to transit the canal's Neopanamax locks.The maximum ship depth for the key global waterway will be set at 47 feet (14.33 m) effective immediately, and on July 11, will deepen to 48 feet (14.63 m), the canal authority said in an advisory to clients.The authority also opened up another transit slot for Neopanamax ships for booking dates after Aug.

Norwegian offshore vessel operator DOF Group has secured two long-term contracts with Petrobras for its Pipelay Support Vessel (PLSV) and the Anchor Handling Support vessel (AHTS).The Brazilian built and flagged PLSV Skandi Niterói is awarded a three-year firm plus option contract, starting in 2025. The vessel is owned by DOFCON Navegação, a joint venture between DOF Subsea (50%) and TechnipFMC (50%).Built in 2011, the vessel is of STX OSCV 06 design. It is 142.2 meter long, with the breadth of 27 meter…

A fire that destroyed a conveyor belt and electric systems at the Tiplam terminal in the port of Santos, Brazil's largest, caused a suspension of sugar loading on piers 2 and 3 on that terminal, according to a note from the company.The fire broke out on Thursday night on the site and was controlled on Friday morning. There were no victims, but the destruction of the conveyor belt stopped loadings in the berths, said the note to clients of VLI, the company managing the terminal.

TCP, an arm of China Merchants Port, is working to dissuade a logistics firm from applying a surcharge on outgoing cargos at South America's largest container terminal, TCP Commercial Director Carolina Brown said.France-based logistics firm CMA CGM's $150 surcharge, which would take effect on July 1, could impact the cost of shipping goods through Brazil's main refrigerated container terminal, which is also the world's biggest chicken export corridor."We have already contacted CMA…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore has secured multiple contracts with Petrobras, whose combined value is approximately $240 million (NOK 2.6 billion).The contracts are scheduled to start in the second half of 2024 and first half of 2025.Petrobras has contracted the construction support vessel (CSV) Normand Poseidon and two anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels Normand Sagaris and Normand Ferking, all owned by Solstad Maritime, in which Solstad Offshore holds…

Russia has started wheat shipments to Brazil from Vysotsky Port on the Baltic Sea, the quality inspection arm of Russia's agricultural watchdog said on Friday."Grain was shipped to Brazil from Russian Baltic Sea ports for the first time," the grain quality assessment centre said.It said a 31,000-ton shipment of wheat had undergone quality checks and was shipped at the start of June.The grain terminal at Vysotsky Port, 50 km (30 miles) from the Russian-Finnish border, started shipments in April 2023 with the first cargo going to Tunisia.

Port worker unions in Argentina cut short a planned strike in grains shipping ports in the Rosario region following government-ordered talks, a union head said on Thursday, in welcome news for the country's farm exports.The area north of the city of Rosario along the Parana River is Argentina's main agricultural exports hub, where more than 80% of its processed soybeans, corn, wheat and other farm products are shipped to global markets.The FESIMAF maritime workers federation, which groups several unions…

Maritime labour unions in Argentina announced on Thursday they would cease all activities in ports for 48 hours.The United Maritime Workers Union in a post on Facebook said that the Tugboat Owners Chamber (C.A.R.) has refused to negotiate an expired bargaining agreement, prompting the union to halt work.However, in light of concerns over potential energy supply shortages, the union confirmed that tugboats, which guide vessels supplying thermoelectric power plants and LNG gas tankers, will continue operations.The exception was made to prevent additional pressure on the energy sector.(Reuters -

The Panama Canal is exploring the construction of a new water reservoir that would provide capacity for 11 additional ship crossings, the administrator of the key global waterway said in a statement on Tuesday.The administration is also seeking to make its ship reservation system "more permanent," the statement added.(Reuters - Reporting by Elida Moreno)

Norwegian offshore vessel operator DOF Group has secured a ‘major contract’ from Petrobras for its pipelay support vessel (PLSV) Skandi Vitória.DOF secured a three-year firm contract, plus option, for its PLSV Skandi Vitória as part of an ongoing tender process.The contract starts in 2025, according to DOF.The vessel is Brazilian-built and flagged and owned by DOFCON Navegação, a joint venture between DOF Subsea (50%) and TechnipFMC (50%).kandi Vitória is an ROV construction support vessel…

Petrobras' new chief executive said a basin in Brazil's Equatorial Margin, an environmentally sensitive offshore prospect seen as the country's most promising frontier for oil exploration, was a matter of "national interest."Magda Chambriard, who took over as the state-controlled oil company's chief executive after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired its former CEO this month, said on Monday she wanted to escalate talks about the region near Guyana to the National Council of Energy Policy (CNPE)…

Van Oord said it has finished the dredging of the outer channel to the Port of Suape in the Northeast of Brazil. The dredging of the channel up to 20 meters enables the port to handle larger, more efficient, container and (liquid) bulk vessels.Van Oord has deepened the access channel to the Port of Suape from 15 to 20 meters. To execute the project, Van Oord deployed various dredgers to meet the challenges of the project. It is a major milestone for Van Oord and for the Port of Suape that the project has now been completed.Tim Helbo…

The specialized vessel Sapura Ônix is on its way to Atlanta Field in Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, where it will carry out the installation of subsea equipment to support the oil production, targeted for August 2024.Brazilian oil and gas company Enauta said the Sapura Ônix vessel is en route to install multiphase pumps (MPPs), umbilicals for power and data transmission, and production risers, connecting the wells’ subsea infrastructure to FPSO Atlanta.The FPSO Atlanta, chartered and operated by Malaysia’s Yinson Production…

Black & Veatch has completed a feasibility study for the planned Andes Energy Terminal, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal and power plant.The study assessed site suitability, project design requirements, capital and operating costs, financial viability, financing options, climate resilience, and implementation and construction plans.Beginning with a site assessment that focused on the landscape of the area, regulatory restrictions and accessibility, the study…

Hong Kong-based Cosco Shipping Ports said on Saturday that a worker died in an early-morning accident at a megaport it is building on Peru's Pacific coast.The worker was doing sanding and painting work at the deepwater Chancay Port Terminal when the accident occurred, the company said in a statement.The company said it was investigating the circumstances of the incident and was coordinating with authorities.Cosco, which began developing Chancay port in 2019 as a hub in the South American Pacific…

The Chinese state-owned company at the center of a dispute over operations of a megaport it is building on Peru's Pacific coast insisted on Tuesday on terms agreed with the government, as some local officials have sought to backtrack on the deal.Hong Kong-based Cosco Shipping Ports will defend its legal rights to provide services as the exclusive operator of the deepwater Chancay Port Terminal under "terms that were agreed at the beginning of this investment," the firm said in…

Compagnie Maritime Monegasque (CMM) has secured $94 million in financing from Summit Ridge Capital Partners, which will help the company construct pioneering ethanol-powered fleet of Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs) in Brazil.The financing will enable CMM to recompose its shareholder structure and to expand its fleet, the company said. Panorama Capital Partners sourced and advised on the transaction, and participated as a co-investor.As part of this expansion, CMM will construct pioneering ethanol powered PSV fleet in Brazil.

The ABS-classed Liza Unity has received the first REMOTE-CON notation for an floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) from ABS. The notation demonstrates the vessel’s alignment with remote-control functions and signifies that the design and construction of the offshore asset are assessed against and adhere to the ABS Requirements for Autonomous and Remote Control Functions.The Liza Unity is the second FPSO to be built for ExxonMobil Guyana’s Stabroek Block development and the first delivered under SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward program.

Malaysia-based offshore services firm Sapura Energy has through its joint venture companies secured $1.8 billion worth of contracts with Brazil’s state-owned energy giant Petrobras for the provision of subsea services and six pipe-laying support vessels (PLSVs).Sapura Energy has through the joint ventures owned by Seabras Sapura Holding and Seabras Sapura Participações, in collaboration with Paratus Energy Services, secured contracts for its full fleet of six multi-purpose PLSVs as part of a competitive tender process run by Petrobras.Sapura Energy…

In 2018, convicted cocaine trafficker Slobodan Kostovski fled a Brazilian prison and made his way back to Europe with a fake passport.The Serbian senior quickly fell into old habits, police allege. Last August, Kostovski was arrested in Belgrade, accused of shipping 2.7 metric tonnes of cocaine from Brazil aboard a 22-meter vessel apprehended near Spain’s Canary Islands.Nicknamed “the General” by his associates, he had been trafficking “large amounts” of powder to “Europe for a long period of time,” Serbian police wrote in a 2022 intelligence report obtained exclusively by Reuters.