Boskalis’ vessel duo pulls off Brazil-to-Denmark tow of MODEC’s FPSO (Gallery)

August 10, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Two ocean-going tugs from the fleet operated by Boskalis, a Dutch offshore services provider, have undertaken a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) tow mission across the Atlantic.

Boskalis has shed light on the role its ocean-going tugs BOKA Alpine and BOKA Glacier recently played in completing a major FPSO towage operation. Each with a bollard pull of 205 metric tons, these sister vessels towed MODEC’s FPSO Cidade de Niterói (MV18) from the Campos Basin offshore Brazil to Frederikshavn in Denmark.

After a voyage of approximately six weeks, including a bunkering stop in Cape Verde, the FPSO was delivered to Denmark. The company claims that the transatlantic tow of the 315-meter-long FPSO demonstrated its expertise in complex long-distance towing operations.

“The strength, endurance and reliability of the BOKA Alpine and BOKA Glacier made them ideally suited for this challenging assignment,” emphasized Boskalis, adding: “Operations of this scale require careful preparation, close coordination and great teamwork throughout the voyage.”

The FPSO was capable of processing 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, 124 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, and had storage capacity of 1,600,000 barrels of crude oil.

The FPSO Cidade de Niterói worked at Petrobras’ Marlim Leste oil field within the Campos Basin offshore Brazil from February 2009 until the completion of the charter contract in May 2026.

MODEC was in charge of the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of the FPSO, which arrived in June 2026 at Modern American Recycling Services Europe‘s ship recycling facility in Frederikshavn.

“We thank the crews of the BOKA Alpine and BOKA Glacier for their hard work during this transport and thank MODEC for the pleasant collaboration,” highlighted Boskalis.