Germany's United Offshore Support (UOS) has clinched a two-year deal to operate an anchor-handler tug supply vessel in Brazil.
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, the domestic oil major.
"The oil and gas sector in Brazil is recovering from last year's crisis, so CBO has almost 100% of its fleet in operation," said CBO's technical and commercial director Marcelo Martins.
"Therefore, this new contract with UOS will allow us to continue to attend to our major client in the country with efficiency and excellence."
The UOS team operated AHTS vessels in Brazil between 2010 to 2017.
The owner said it was pleased to return to one of the biggest oil and gas markets in the world by teaming up with two globally recognised operators in the region.
Milestone charter
"This charter is an important milestone for us, and we are very happy to finally be back in Brazil having teamed up with CBO to win this work for Petrobras," said chartering manager Heiko Peters.
Project manager Artur Buxbaum said delivering the vessel to CBO is a challenging but "very interesting" task.
"The preparations necessary to comply with local and Petrobras' requirements are not the usual day-to-day routine, which created a fascinating project to work on," he added.
UOS has 13 high-powered AHTS units operating worldwide, while CBO is the second largest offshore support vessel company in Brazil, operating 35 vessels across AHTS, platform supply vessel and other sectors.
CBO owns 33 of the ships, and bareboat charters in another two.
Brazilian pioneer
The company was also the first from Brazil to operate in the North Sea.
"After a long break from Brazil, it's great for a UOS vessel to be back and re-establishing long-term relationships in the region," said UOS chief executive Howard Woodcock said.
"Such longer-term employment only goes to strengthen UOS and demonstrates our team’s ability to secure valuable work in a challenging and highly competitive marketplace."
Brazil has been providing relief in recent months for European shipowners struggling with low rates for offshore ships in the North Sea.
