The Danish company is the largest shipping company on the planet and is in the running for the internal pier at EAS

It is not now that Maersk, the largest shipping company in the world, has its eye on the Atlântico Sul Shipyard, located in the Port of Suape, in the city of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, on the south coast of Pernambuco. The Danish woman has been having conversations with the EAS since the beginning of the judicial recovery, in February 2020. And now she has revealed her plans if she wins the auction that would take place this Thursday (07), but which now has no new date set.

Through its subsidiary APM Terminals, Maersk revealed to the Valor Econômico which wants to start its eventual operation at the Atlântico Sul Shipyard, in the Port of Suape, with an initial capacity of 400 TEUs (measure equivalent to a 20-foot container).

According to APM Terminals' Corporate Development manager in Latin America, Leonardo Levy, this would be “just” the starting point. From then on, the expectation is that the market will react to lower prices and that it will be possible to expand capacity, making Suape a 'hub' for the Northeast.

“We see a lot of potential in Suape. In addition to the possibility of adding more long-distance services, there is room to convert more truck cargo to cabotage, which is very strong in the port, but still suffers from high prices. We want to bring more competition to that market.”

Leonardo Levy – APM Terminals Corporate Development Manager in Latin America

Maersk plans to invest BRL 2,6 billion in a new container terminal

If the auction for the internal pier of the Atlântico Sul Shipyard in the Port of Suape is awarded, Maersk intends to invest up to R$ 2,6 billion in a new container terminal on site. To win the dispute, it will have to offer values ​​that surpass its main competitors, the other global giant of Filipino origin Tecon and a secret international consortium who was recently in Pernambuco and presented a strong proposal to purchase the total space for US$ 215.000.000,00.

Maersk's initial offer was BRL 895 million for the south pier. The Danish company, the secret consortium and the other competitors, Tecon and Southern Cone, had Wednesday (06) as the date for submitting offers. These last two, which already operate in the Port of Suape, have been trying to stop the auction, arguing that the Atlântico Sul Shipyard would not have carried out the competitive process to choose APM as a “stalking horse”, which would have harmed competition.

The local court, which had rejected the request for suspension, now decided to accept Tecon's request and, thus, decided to suspend the auction, creating yet another chapter in this story. According to the file of the request, “the company that filed the lawsuit claimed that it is necessary to observe the constitutional principle of isonomy in order to guarantee equal opportunities, however the Atlântico Sul Shipyard decided to grant Stalking Horse to the company APM Termianis BV (APMT ), member of the Maersk group”.

Stalking Horse is the initial and anticipated offer that an interested buyer makes to try to close a deal with a company that is in judicial recovery, conferring the prerogative of preference upon the opportunity to cover the best offer.

In addition to the south pier, desired by Maersk, the auction aims to find a buyer for a second space, called UPI-B Central, valued at R$ 595 million. In October 2021, the Atlântico Sul Shipyard even held an auction for the two lots together, for BRL 895 million, but there was no interest. So now the idea is to sell divided.

It is expected to create thousands of jobs

Currently, Atlântico Sul Shipyard has around 500 employees. Between 2007 and 2014, the entire EAS generated more than 11 jobs. At that time, the state of Pernambuco was pointed out as a situation of almost full employment (when the unemployment rate does not exceed 6%).

The entire Suape industrial port complex was home to more than 65 workers, coming not only from Pernambuco, but also from various parts of Brazil. At that time, large undertakings were installed, such as shipyards, a refinery, a pole of equipment for the wind industry, among others.

Of the more than 60 workers, just over 42 were employed at the height of the works at the Abreu e Lima Refinery. In 2021, the company carried out services on 11 vessels, which generated revenues of BRL 65,4 million, making possible a net cash generation of BRL 26,6 million.

The Atlântico Sul Shipyard, in the Port of Suape, is managed by the contractors Queiroz Galvão and Camargo Correa. Companies aim to pay off debts with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development, through the sale of assets. BNDES is the biggest creditor of the old naval industry project.