Norwegian oil & gas giant sets the seal on vessel deal in Latin America

Brazil’s shipping company CBO has inked a time charter contract for a platform supply vessel (PSV) with Equinor Brasil, a Brazilian branch of Norway’s state-owned energy giant Equinor.

Under the contract, the PSV Delta Cardinal will be chartered to Equinor Brasil for one year starting in July 2024. The 2014-built vessel, constructed at Damen Shipyard in Romania, is 80.1 meters long, 16.2 meters wide, and can accommodate 22 persons.

CBO will operate the PSV with its owner, Delta Logistics, which has experience in providing offshore support in the Caribbean and South America. With the latest addition, the company’s fleet will comprise 45 vessels: 23 PSVs, 13 anchor handling tug supply vessels (AHTS), 6 ROV support vessels (RSVs), and 3 oil spill response vessels (OSRVs). 

CBO and Equinor previously closed deals for three PSVs meant to support the latter’s projects in Brazil. The contracts were signed for three years and came with two additional one-year options.

The Norwegian heavyweight recently hired the Valaris DS-17 drillship for its Raia project off the coast of Brazil. The multi-year drilling assignment will cover the development of two natural gas fields – Raia Manta and Raia Pintada.

The energy player is also developing the Bacalhau project in the South American country. MODEC’s floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit Bacalhau, destined to work in the field, recently received DNV’s approval in principle (AiP) for Abate notation. 

According to the classification society, the notation was designed to assist FPSO owners and operators to identify and implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.