The resumption of Petrobras’ investments in the naval industry in Bahia foresees the construction of six offshore maritime support vessels in the coming years, which will be manufactured at the Enseada shipyard, in Maragogipe, municipality of Recôncavo Baianoabout 130 kilometers from Salvador.
The details were announced this Thursday (9), at an event in the region that was attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Governor Jerônimo Rodrigues, the president of Petrobras, Magda Chambriard, as well as ministers and hundreds of shipyard workers.
“I’m here to recover the Brazilian naval industry, but the guys who left a shipyard of this magnitude idle should be arrested for causing damage to the Brazilian population,” said Lula during the announcement of the billion-dollar investment to resume the project.
In the morning, in Camaçari, in the metropolitan region of Salvador, Lula participated in the inauguration of the new Chinese BYD electric and hybrid vehicle factoryin the former Ford factory, closed in 2021.
The six vessels are of the ORSV (Oil Spill Response Vessel, in English) type, specialized in spill control activities on the high seas, and will be built by the shipping company CMM Offshore Brasil, to later be passed on for use by Petrobras.
THE total investment is estimated at R$2.58 billionwith forecast of four years for construction and 12 years of operation for each contract. In this construction alone, more than 5,400 direct and indirect jobs will be created. The contracts also require 40% local content in the components used to manufacture the boats.
“Just to remind you, we went 8 years without Petrobras making a single demand on the Brazilian naval industry. What we are resuming, therefore, is priceless”, highlighted Magda Chambriard.
According to the president of Petrobras, the company has already made progress in contracting 44 of 48 vessels planned for manufacturing in Brazil, in different shipyards in the country. The boats, according to her, are medium to large in size, with more than 1 thousand square meters of free area. According to data from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the renewal of the naval fleet in Brazil should generate 44 thousand jobs and R$23 billion in investments.
According to the state-owned company, the vessels that will be built in Bahia will be equipped with a hybrid propulsion system, which combines electric motors and batteries with generators powered by diesel and biodiesel, in addition to the possibility of future conversion to ethanol, capable of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the main gas causing the greenhouse effect, by up to 25%.
During the event, the Ministry of Ports and Airports announced an investment of R$611.7 million for the construction of 80 vessels aimed at expanding activities in the naval and waterway sector. Of this total, R$550.5 million will be resources from the Merchant Marine Fund (FMM).
The financing, according to the ministry, has the potential to generate more than 2 thousand direct jobs. To date, four vessels have been built and another three are under construction.
The Merchant Marine Fund, maintained by the federal government, finances fleet renewal and vessel repairs.
“Here, at Estaleiro Enseada, almost 7 thousand direct quality jobs have been reborn. Decent wages to improve the lives of families. More than 90% of the jobs are being occupied by people from here, from Recôncavo Baiano. Local labor, local benefit”, celebrated the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira.
Fertilizer factory
THE Petrobras also announced the resumption and operation of the Nitrogen Fertilizer Factories in Bahia and Sergipe (Fafen-BA and Fafen-SE)whose activities should begin in January. The plants will produce ammonia, pearl urea and ARLA-32, using a contract that also includes the operation of the Ammonia and Urea Maritime Terminals at the Port of Aratu, in Candeias, Bahia.
At Fafen Bahia, the planned investment for the resumption of the unit is R$38 million and the estimate is that 750 direct jobs will be created. The same investment values and jobs are planned for the Sergipe plant.
The two factories, together with Araucária Nitrogenados SA (ANSA), another national Petrobras fertilizer factory, installed in Paraná, will account for 20% of all fertilizer production consumed by the Brazilian agricultural sector. A new factory under construction in Mato Grosso should increase national production to 35% of all demand in the coming years, assured the president of Petrobras.
Still in Bahia, the state government and Petrobras signed a protocol of intentions so that the state-owned company can use the São Roque do Paraguaçu (BA) construction site for the berth of oil platforms. On site, these platforms will be partially decommissioned and, in the future, they may be rebuilt in the same location, generating new jobs.
The protocol also provides for the provision of part of the construction site so that the state of Bahia can use the area to support the construction of the Salvador-Itaparica Bridge.
