CMO Freezes Shipyard Project in São Francisco do Sul

Company Awaits Second Environmental License, But This Is Not the Only Barrier for the Project Still Not Moving Forward.

CMO, an association between Construcap and McDermott, based in Rio de Janeiro, has put the shipyard construction project in São Francisco do Sul on hold. The land where the enterprise is to be built is located in the Miranda neighborhood, covering an area of 500,000 m2.

The initiative, with an expected investment of R$ 650 million, already has an installation environmental license issued by the Institute of the Environment (IMA) in April 2018 for the first phase of the shipyard’s land works.

However, even with the documentation, land works have not started and have been in a state of limbo since then.

The company is also awaiting approval of the LAI for the second phase of works at sea, which will involve operations such as dredging and the excavation of a channel. But that is not the only thing slowing down the installation process.

The company’s president, José Pedro Mota, admitted that the project is on hold and they are waiting for an improvement in the macroeconomic environment and favorable market conditions for the business to move forward.

“We have frozen the project. We will do it, yes, but at a much slower pace. We understand that Petrobras will only have investment capacity in 2025,” he analyzes.

Another factor is the near halt of the naval and oil sector following the start of operations against corruption, Operation Car Wash, since 2015.

Designed to process 24,000 tons of steel per year and accommodate two FPSOs simultaneously, the CMO Shipyard was planned for the construction and integration of modules to platforms, as well as for the repair and maintenance of ships and platforms.

The Shipyard will also feature a construction area that will allow for the manufacturing of jackets, buoyancy modules, accommodation modules, etc. The announced investment in 2014 is R$ 700 million.

Brazil is expected to attract 50% of global investments in the subsea oil and gas market. This assessment is by Rachid Félix, chairperson of session 3 of the SPE Brazil Subsea Symposium: Unleashing the Potential of Subsea 4.0, which takes place on June 18 and 19, at Firjan in Rio de Janeiro.