As winner of Petrobras’ tender, Prosafe anticipates contract award by year-end

Offshore accommodation provider Prosafe has been selected as the winning bidder for a 650-day firm period contract for Petrobras’ tender in Brazil.

This announcement comes after the firm disclosed in October 2022 that it had submitted the most competitive offer in this bidding process. Prosafe explained last Friday that the final contract award and the start of operations, entailing the deployment of the Safe Zephyrus semi-submersible accommodation rig for safety and maintenance support offshore Brazil, remained subject to the contract.

However, the firm highlighted that it was expecting the final contract award prior to year-end 2022. The approximate value of the deal associated with the bidding process is $73 million – equivalent to $112,500 per day.

Prior to starting preparations and mobilisation for the contract with Petrobras, Prosafe expects the Safe Zephyrus unit to complete its contract with BP at ETAP in the UK North Sea on 21 December 2022.

The 2016-built Safe Zephyrus, a sister vessel to the Safe Boreas, was constructed at Jurong Shipyard, Singapore, to the GVA 3000E design and is equipped with a DP3 system and 12-point wire mooring arrangement. This vessel has a large open deck area of more than 1,000 m2 and two 50-tonne cranes.

Meanwhile, the company also provided an update on the other vessels in its fleet. Therefore, the firm says that Safe Caledonia has been operating for TotalEnergies at the Elgin platform in the UK since 7 March 2022. Once the vessel completes this contract – scheduled to end on 2 December 2022 – it will be laid up pending future work.

Prosafe’s Safe Boreas completed a contract to support a platform shutdown in the UK North Sea on 1 November 2022 and is now laid up in Norway pending future work.

Moreover, Safe Eurus was awarded a four-year contract with Petrobras on 25 May 2022 with a planned start-up in Q1 2023 following the expiry of the current contract. The vessel is expected to be off-hire for 30 days in April 2023 to carry out modification work and hull cleaning for the contract with Petrobras. Additionally, Prosafe intends to advance and conduct the SPS for this vessel – initially scheduled for 2024 – during the same off-hire window to avoid the need for a further off-hire period in 2024.

On the other hand, Safe Notos kicked off a new four-year contract with Petrobras on 18 July 2022, in direct continuation of the previous contract. This vessel is expected to be off-hire for 30 days either in February or May 2023, so that modification and hull cleaning can be conducted.

Prosafe also underlines that Safe Concordia is now laid up in Curaçao pending the start of the upcoming project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The firm duration of this contract, starting within a window of July through October 2023, is 330 days with up to 6 months of options.

The offshore accommodation provider’s Safe Scandinavia is laid up in Norway and is being marketed broadly. While Prosafe underscores that it is currently not participating in any ongoing tenders in Brazil, the firm is taking part in multiple tenders in the North Sea.