Two vessel owners have emerged as frontrunners to secure lucrative contracts with Brazilian oil giant Petrobras after submitting the lowest bids in a tender for the charter of remotely-operated vehicle support vessels (RSVs).

US-based Edison Chouest Offshore and OceanPact are understood to be in the running for the work.

Petrobras welcomed offers in late September for Brazilian-flagged RSVs featuring Class 2 dynamic positioning systems. Lot A called for vessels to start operations in January 2020 and Lot B for vessels with delivery in June 2020.

Well-informed sources told Upstream that OceanPact finished first in Lot A by offering the Sealion Amazonia vessel for a dayrate of $51,918.

Edison Chouest was a close second with the Joe Griffin vessel for $52,017. The company also bid the Deborah Kay and Santos Service vessels for $58,600 and $58,700, respectively.

Wilson Sons proposed the Cormoran vessel for a dayrate of $58,733, followed by Marlin Navegacao with the Marlin Copacabana vessel for $64,601 and DOF Subsea in a distant seventh place with the Geosea vessel for $93,593.

Louisiana-headquartered Edison Chouest also bid aggressively for Lot B and ended ahead of rivals, despite some strong competition. It offered the Bram Belem vessel for a dayrate of $70,000.

OceanPact submitted three vessels — Parcel das Paredes for $70,918, Tahya Misr 1 for $71,750 and MAC Pegasus for $72,333 — and given that prices came so close to the winning bidder, sources suggested the company may also be awarded at least a contract in Lot B.

Norway’s Solstad Offshore is also in the mix in the Lot B race with the Far Saga vessel for a dayrate of $71,390.

The company also bid the Normand Mermaid and Normand Baltic vessels, but did so by offering them for respective prices of $85,919 and $92,500.

At the bottom of the chart, DOF proposed the Skandi Salvador vessel for $97,000 and CBO Group offered the Horizon Enabler vessel for $109,598.

Petrobras offered contracts for periods of two or three years, with options for renewal for another two years or one year, respectively.

Based on the prices offered in the tender and depending on how many vessels Petrobras will contract, Edison Chouest and OceanPact can sign deals worth more than $100 million each, according to sources.

Earlier this year, Petrobras awarded DOF a trio of contracts worth about $150 million for the provision of RSVs.

The Skandi Commander, Skandi Olympia and Skandi Chieftain vessels have been handed contracts for three years each.

Weekly

Two players in the lead in Petrobras RSV tender