Subsea 7 — Kristian Siem's offshore contracting company — has clinched a huge cable-laying contract from oil major Petrobras in Brazil.
The "very large" award, worth between $500m and $750m, will see the company's fleet of cable-layers install 190 km of lines in the Santos basin.
The work supports development of the Mero-3 field about 200 km off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, at 2.2 km of water depth.
The contract scope includes engineering, fabrication, installation and pre-commissioning of 80 km of rigid risers and flowlines, 60 km of flexible service lines and 50 km of umbilicals and associated infrastructure.
Subsea 7 will also install mooring lines and a hook up for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.
Fabrication of the pipelines will take place at Subsea 7's base in Ubu in the state of Vitoria.
Work set to start in 2023
Offshore operations are scheduled to be carried out in 2023 and 2024 using Subsea 7's reeled rigid pipelay ships.
Marcelo Xavier, the group's vice president of Brazil, said the deal builds on a strong, collaborative relationship with Petrobras.
Brazil has a been a beacon of hope for offshore shipowners weighed down by weak rates in Europe.
Clarksons Research has identified floating rig demand rising there and in Asia.
In April, Germany's United Offshore Support (UOS) clinched a two-year deal to operate an anchor-handling tug supply vessel in Brazil, returning to that market for the first time since 2017.
The Leer-based offshore vessel owner said the AHTS contract has been awarded by domestic shipowner CBO Group, one of the major operators in the country.
An unnamed UOS ship will service end-client Petrobras.
