Government Signs Agreement with Chinese to Bring Works for Ships and Offshore Support Vessels in Paraíba

The government of the Brazilian state of Paraíba signed a Letter of Intent with the Chinese shipyard IMC YY for cooperation on the Brazil Basin Drydock Company (BBDC) project.

The agreement will have IMC YY from China operate the Pedra do Ingá Dock Company (EDPI) facility of BBDC under a long-term contract, announced McQuilling Services, one of the shareholders of BBDC. The BBDC project will be the largest ship repair yard built for this purpose in the South Atlantic basin. It will feature two large graving docks for dry-dock vessels up to the size of Valemax ships and a hydrolift for smaller offshore support vessels, according to McQuilling.

Part of a development initiative in Cabedelo, larger throughout the port, the US $ 900 million project will be located in the municipality of Lucena in the state of Paraíba, across from the port of Cabedelo at the eastern tip of South America and built in several phases.

The BBDC’s EDPI yard is planned for a dry-dock production of over 120 ships per year.

“With environmental and engineering activities underway, our focus now is to raise the primary asset of Phase One, around US $ 70 million, with the goal of starting the first repair operations in 2022,” commented David Saginaw, commercial director of McQuilling Services.

Transpetro will order 13 ships from shipyards by 2023