Brazilian tanker owner Transpetro is preparing tender papers for 21 newbuildings after launching a hunt for four tankers aimed at fleet renewal.
The tanker and terminal operating subsidiary of government-controlled oil giant Petrobras told TradeWinds it is targeting 25 vessels under its TP 25 expansion and renewal programme.
The contracting efforts will build on a just-launched tender for a quartet of handysize clean product tankers, in which the shipowner invited international yards to compete with Brazil’s shipbuilding sector.
“In addition to the public tender announced in July for four handy-class tankers, there are plans for more tenders for gas carriers and medium-range vessels,” Transpetro spokeswoman Alessandra Ribas told TradeWinds.
While she declined to provide details of what kind of gas carriers were under consideration, Sergio Bacci-led Transpetro controls six LPG carriers in its fleet of 36 ships.
In the MR tanker space, it owns product and chemical carriers.
Ribas said the next tenders will be published late this year or in 2025.
All of Transpetro’s tankers and gas carriers were built at Brazilian yards between 2011 and 2019.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva,in his first term from 2003 to 2011, made the state company’s tanker fleet the main vehicle of an effort to spur a shipyard renaissance in the country that had been the world’s second-largest shipbuilder by tonnage in the 1970s.
But as TradeWinds has reported, although Lula’s return to the presidency in 2023 raised questions about whether Transpetro would again turn to the domestic yards, the first tender in the new shipbuilding programme has invited international yards to submit bids.
“The ship acquisition process follows an open international bidding format, which allows the participation of all shipyards that fulfil the technical and economic criteria established in the tender announcement, including Brazilian shipyards,” Ribas said.
The company has pledged to consider the lowest offer in the bidding for the first quartet, and Brazilian shipbuilders have some protection from lower-price yards because of the South American country’s tariffs on vessels imported for the cabotage trade.
Lula’s first-term shipbuilding initiative did lead to renewal in Brazil’s yards, including the construction of the Atlantico Sul shipyard near Recife.
But it also encountered major challenges, including delayed deliveries, bankruptcies and the stigma of corruption, including the conviction of former Transpetro chief executive Sergio Machado as part of a bribery investigation.
The new phase of Transpetro fleet investment is named TP 25 to commemorate the company’s 25th anniversary.
And despite the invitation to international shipbuilders, Transpetro and its parent have said that it could generate opportunities for domestic yards.
“This Transpetro programme is going to give more capacity to our petroleum and derivatives logistics,” Petrobras president Magda Chambriard said at a recent press event.
“It is a contracting milestone that will contribute to strengthening the national shipbuilding and offshore industries.”
Tranpetro has also touted the reduced greenhouse gas emissions that newer ships can bring.
As TradeWinds has reported, the Brazilian shipowner’s tender for four tanker newbuildings of 15,000 dwt to 18,000 dwt demands that they are dual-fuel ready.
Specifically, it wants to be able to adopt ethanol, which is not often talked about as a shipping fuel but is abundant in Brazil. The company spokeswoman said the company will not use methanol, though that fuel is mentioned in tender documents.
In the ongoing tender for handysize tankers, the first delivery is slated to take place in the first half of 2026. The deliveries will continue into the middle of 2028.
This article has been amended to reflect that Transpetro is seeking ethanol-ready vessels.
