OSX Brasil S.A., a Brazilian publicly traded corporation, which provides solutions for the offshore oil industry by means of integrated operations in shipbuilding, leasing of exploration and production (E&P) units, announced today that the Board of the Merchant Marine Fund (FMM) has approved the prioritization of additional funding, for a credit line of R$1.5 billion approximately (approx $ 734 mln), for the construction of the Açu Shipbuilding Unit (UCN Açu), keeping the original financing structure for the project, with an estimated construction investment of approximately R$ 4.8 billion.
“ The Açu Shipbuilding Unit is being built to begin operations at the beginning of 2013 and the approval of this additional funding prioritization by the FMM acknowledges the strategic importance of this project for the Brazilian naval industry and production of Brazilian oil. We receive this prioritization as a reassurance of the standards of quality, technology, safety and sustainability that lead our OSX team ,” stated Carlos Bellot, CEO of OSX.
The construction of the Açu Shipbuilding Unit is underway and operations are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2013, with construction activities of clients’ order book. Completion of construction of the UCN Açu is scheduled for the second quarter of 2014, counting with the technological support of partner Hyundai Heavy Industries, the global leader in naval construction.
(1 Brazil real = 0.489261 U.S. dollars)
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Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, October 15, 2012; Image: osx