
Brazil: Asgaard Bourbon, a promising start

Asgaard Bourbon, a newly created joint venture in Brazil, has just signed two major contracts with Petrobras. By placing the emphasis on quality and operational excellence, the new entity is confident of continuing to satisfy the state-owned company and being able to attract new customers.
A new player is now operating in offshore marine services in Brazil. Although not ranking among the sector’s biggest hitters, the newly formed entity is well regarded by Petrobras, the country’s state-owned oil major. BOURBON’s Brazilian affiliate will merge its operations with Asgaard, a small local player with the distinction of being ranked the strongest performer in Petrobras’ annual quality audit in four successive years, creating a 50/50 joint venture, Asgaard Bourbon Navegação.
Originally present in the country since 2004 through a 50% stake in a local company that later became a 100% shareholding, BOURBON began a reorganization of its activities in Brazil in 2018, selling some of its vessels and replacing expatriate staff with local nationals. After its fleet reduced to three anchor-handlers, it was struggling to survive. The creation of a joint venture with a competitor, Asgaard, enabled the Group to strengthen its presence in this area and to win two new contracts.
The choice of Asgaard as a partner has largely influenced the entity’s strategy, based on quality. “Petrobras, which recognizes Asgaard as one of the very top-performing suppliers in terms of quality, is extremely demanding when it comes to enforcing the terms of the contract,” says Eduard Claassen, Managing Director. “We are confident that our new teams will be able to meet all the requirements of the contract and deliver the required operational excellence."
Two major three-year contracts
Asgaard Bourbon is starting out with two major three-year contracts to its credit. One of these, which began in the first week of December, involves crewing and operating a Halliburton-owned vessel, the Stim Star Arabian Gulf (SSAG), for well stimulation operations, consisting in the injection of chemical products into the pipes to raise the pressure, increase the flow and keep the well productive.
Extremely accurate dynamic positioning (DP) is crucial in this operation, that will require a DPO permanently onboard, and an additional DP expert specially hired to work onshore. “Before the SSAG sailed in from the United States, there were only three well stimulation vessels in Brazil, all operated by the same company. We have been able to break this monopoly, and it’s more than likely that other oil companies will require this service for this kind of operation.”
The second Petrobras contract, which is also scheduled to run for three years, will get underway in April 2022. This entails running a support vessel for remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) that will service Petrobras FPSOs, carrying out inspections and minor maintenance operations and generally checking that the platform’s systems are working. The ROVs will be provided and operated by a local company, Oceanica. The vessel selected for this operation is the Bourbon Evolution 808, which will be dead-towed to Brazil, where it will be reactivated in dry dock.
Objective: best maritime company in Brazil
“The Brazilian offshore market consists of around 392 vessels in all. Even with the SSAG and the Bourbon Evolution 808, we will only be operating six vessels, so our market share will be relatively small,” remarks Eduard Claassen. “However, we have a clear ambition to be the best shipping company in Brazil. Our differentiation will focus on the quality of our service and of our team. As Managing Director, one of my missions is to diversify our client portfolio, because at present we are working 100% for Petrobras. We have already created a very good impression with Halliburton in the well stimulation operation, and so we are very confident for the future.”