Brazilian state-controlled oil giant Petrobras has welcomed commercial proposals from a trio of companies vying to secure lucrative fresh contracts for flexible pipelaying support vessels (PLSVs) to operate in the South American powerhouse.

The new bidding takes place as Petrobras is set to deploy a series of floating production, storage and offloading vessels in Brazilian waters over the next few years, with the company requiring powerful PLSVs to assist in subsea operations.