MOL and Petrobras Sign Cargo Transfer Vessels Deals

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Brazil’s state-owned energy giant Petrobras have signed a charter contract for cargo transfer vessel (CTV) SeaLoader 2, and agreed to start negotiations for a new CTV shipbuilding contract by the end of 2024.

MOL signed the deal through its wholly owned subsidiary, SeaLoading Holding, which owns and operates CTVs.

SeaLoading started a CTV agreement with Petrobras for SeaLoader 2 on a trial period in January 2022, and successfully completed more than 30 crude oil offloading operations from Petrobras' FPSOs located in the Santos Basin, Brazil, transferring the cargo to tankers.

The trials involved vessels up to VLCC size, according to MOL.

After the successful conclusion of the trial agreement, proving the CTV technology efficiency and reliability, the vessel was placed on a time charter contract in 2023 with Petrobras.

Now SeaLoading has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Petrobras to start the negotiations for a newbuilding CTV by the end of 2024.

The crude oil produced from offshore fields by a floating production, storage and offloading system (FPSO) is usually transported to the demand area via crude oil tankers, which, in most cases, requires DP shuttle tankers with special cargo handling equipment to firstly receive the crude oil and transport it to an oil storage terminal or calm waters where it can be offloaded (or transshipped), and then reloaded onto a crude oil tanker.

In the case of CTV, the crude oil can be directly loaded from the FPSO to the crude oil tanker by connecting a CTV between an FPSO and the crude oil tanker. This dramatically increases the efficiency of crude oil logistics.

Currently, there are only 2 two CTVs in the world, all owned by SeaLoading, which holds the patent for the CTV technology. The use of CTVs could also enable a significant reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the transfer of crude oil by DP shuttle tankers.

Specifically, CTVs are expected to achieve a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions off the Brazilian coast compared to using a DP shuttle tanker for offloading in the Santos basin, and about 80% when it is used off the coast of Uruguay, according to MOL, which pointed out that the said reduction rate will vary depending on the actual CTV and the DP shuttle tanker's loading/offloading, fuel consumption, sea conditions, and so on.