Teekay supplying shuttle tankers to Brazil?
It is a tale as old as the company’s office in Rio de Janeiro, which was established in 2002.
The Teekay group was the first supplier of the dynamic-positioning vessels [in Brazil] and had an unofficial monopoly with state-energy giant Petrobras and its shipowning subsidiary Transpetro for nearly a decade.
Malaysian shipowner AET finally broke that stranglehold in 2010 as Petrobras sought to diversify its supplier base.
Cutting ties
And as TradeWinds reported last week, Teekay is once again said to be in the mix of shipowners as Transpetro pursues a tender for four shuttle newbuildings backed by 15-year contracts.
But this Teekay is different.
It is not Teekay Corp the Vancouver-based industrial shipping giant. It is New York-listed Teekay Offshore Partners, which has cut ownership ties with the parent company that gave the former offshoot its name.
Teekay Corp has not held a stake in Teekay Offshore since April, when the company that saved the ailing business in 2017 — Brookfield Business Partners — bought out its remaining holding.
With just under 80% of all shares, Brookfield now seeks to take the Teekay offshoot private, in a move that is being fought by dissenting minority shareholders, of which Teekay is not one.
With respect to the brand, it says we share the same commitment to our values around safety and operational leadership. Those standards will never change, so we are comfortable sharing the brand and fully aligned, but legally we are now separate
Jonathan Anthony
But in any case, Teekay Corp — once “the king” of the Brazilian shuttle tanker business — is no longer even a prince in the game.
Shared values
In response to a query from TradeWinds, Teekay Corp spokesman Jonathan Anthony made it clear that his company no longer has a shuttle business since selling its Teekay Offshore shares.
“We share no ownership structure,” Anthony said. “Teekay Offshore are in full control of that — nothing to do with the rest of Teekay.”
However, Anthony did note that Teekay Offshore (ticker symbol TOO) continues to operate three floating production storage and offloading units for Teekay Corp, in addition to maintaining the former parent’s name.
“With respect to the brand, it says we share the same commitment to our values around safety and operational leadership,” Anthony said.
“Those standards will never change, so we are comfortable sharing the brand and fully aligned, but legally we are now separate.”
At the same time, Anthony declined comment on whether Teekay Offshore might be involved in the newest Brazilian tender. As a public company, it would comment only through a press release or public securities filing as a matter of policy, he said.
Interested parties
Other companies said to be investigating the latest tender include Norway's Knutsen OAS Shipping, Malaysia's AET, Norway's Viken Shipping, Greece's Tsakos Energy Navigation and Chinese financial owner CSIC Leasing.
The outfits are said to have approached shipyards in South Korea and China to build the vessels, which would be delivered in 2022.
Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co are said to have been asked to make offers.
Teekay Offshore’s fleet list includes 32 shuttle tankers under full or partial ownership.
