Kristian Siem's oil and gas contracting company Subsea 7 has sealed contract extensions worth $155m for its cable layers in Brazil.
The Oslo-listed outfit said state energy major Petrobras has stretched charters for three ships by a year, but at lower rates.
The 145-loa pipelay support vessels (PLSVs) are the Seven Waves (built 2014), Seven Rio (built 2015) and Seven Cruzeiro (built 2016).
Subsea 7 has four PLSVs in Brazil, with a contract backlog worth $493m.
Their firm contracts will end between the second and fourth quarters of 2022.
The fourth vessel, the 145-loa Seven Sun (built 2016), will complete its current contract in the second quarter of 2022 at its prevailing day rate.
Long-standing relationship
Marcelo Xavier, Subsea 7's vice president for Brazil, said: "These contract extensions reflect our long-standing relationship with Petrobras and desire by both parties to reach a mutually beneficial solution in these challenging times."
Subsea 7 said in May it was removing 10 ships from its fleet and making 3,000 staff redundant in the offshore slump.
Brazil has been a bright spot for charter business in recent weeks for European owners, in contrast to a very weak North Sea market.
Norway's DOF Subsea last week won contracts worth about $110m for 18 months' work from Petrobras.
The deals include survey and inspection services.
At least three vessels from DOF's fleet of offshore support vessels will be mobilised to perform inspections on flexible pipeline, risers and subsea equipment in the Campos Basin, Santos Basin, Marlin Field and Espirito Santos Basin off the south-east coast of Brazil.
Work is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter and is estimated to last up to 550 days.
