Transpetro applies new penalty to EAS.

Leonardo Lucena_PE247 – Transpetro, Petrobras' logistics arm in the transportation sector, will fine the Atlântico Sul Shipyard (EAS), located in the Suape Industrial and Port Complex, Greater Recife, for the delay in delivering the second ship under its responsibility, the Zumbi dos Palmares, which should have been in operation since December of last year. Another shipyard that will also be fined is Mauá, located in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. The amount of the fines has not yet been determined, according to the president of the state-owned company, Sérgio Machado.

This will not be the first fine that Transpetro has imposed on EAS; the first penalty was due to a two-year delay in the delivery of the first vessel, the oil tanker João Cândido. The amount of the fines was not disclosed due to a contractual confidentiality clause. The tanker, 274 meters long and with a capacity to transport 1 million barrels of oil, entered service in May 2012. EAS has contracts worth R$ 7 billion for the delivery of 22 vessels to Transpetro.

Meanwhile, the Mauá Shipyard, whose contracts with Transpetro total R$ 188 million, reported a three-month delay in the delivery of the ship Rômulo Almeida. “The delivery was delayed because the industry is in a development process. (...) We will continue working to further reduce this delay, increasing productivity. (...) The important thing is that this ship, the third to leave here, did not have any additional contract costs; it is being delivered at the price that was contracted,” declared Machado, according to Agência Estado.

The executive said that delays in vessel delivery have been common in the Brazilian shipbuilding industry, but he downplayed the problem. “Korea, to give you an idea, took 30 years (to reach a level of excellence). The first two ships manufactured by Hyundai, the world's largest shipyard, were not accepted by the client because they did not perform in terms of quality. In Brazil, we haven't had this problem. We are making progress, the time (of delays) is decreasing,” he said.

In the case of EAS, the project faced a series of problems last year. Due to delays in the delivery of the first ship, Transpetro demanded the development of an engineering project, a reliable schedule for the delivery of the vessels, and the replacement of a technology partner, as the South Korean company Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), which held a 6% stake, withdrew from the project.

The first measure taken by EAS was to hire the Japanese company Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, controlled by the Mitsui group. The venture also faced operational and skilled labor difficulties. [The text abruptly ends here, so the translation also ends here.] Pernambuco 247EAS has stated that it will not comment on the matter.