Brazil’s Transpetro has launched bidding for four handysize product tanker newbuildings as part of a fleet renewal.
But unlike a high-profile construction project effort the last time Lula da Silva was president of the country and used Transpetro orders to attempt a shipbuilding renewal, this exercise is looking to international yards.
The Rio de Janeiro-based company, a subsidiary of government-controlled oil giant Petrobras, said in bidding documents that national and foreign entities can submit bids.
Transpetro wants four clean product tankers of 15,000 dwt to 18,000 dwt in capacity that will operate in the domestic coastal market.
It website couches the tender, which is open until 7 October, as part of a fleet expansion and renewal programme called TP 25.
Transpetro said in bidding documents that it will select a contractor that offers the lowest price, although it will consider vessel positioning costs, taxes and the impact of financing by the government’s Merchant Marine Fund.
Technical documentation shows that the company wants ships with 12 cargo tanks that can carry marine diesel, Petrobras’ S10 and S500 diesel products and Avgas aviation fuel.
They should have electronic injection engines that run on marine diesel but are ready for an alternative fuel at a later date.
Tender documents reference two alternative fuels — methanol, which is a common alternative for ships today, and ethanol, which is not often discussed for shipping fuel but is abundant in Brazil. But after this story was published, a company spokeswoman said the company is only focused on ethanol.
The vessels should at least comply with the International Maritime Organization’s Tier II standards, although IMO rules require Tier III standards in many cases for a newly laid keel.
Transpetro is also considering four-stroke, medium-speed engines as an alternative.
It said they should at first run on very low-sulphur fuel oil, indicating that they will not have scrubbers.
The newbuildings should have a range of 10,000 nautical miles (18,500 km).
