Brazilian ethanol bidding begins

Transpetro has launched a tender to build 20 tank-barge convoys for the ethanol trade, adding 100 tugs and barges to the company’s already massive fleet.

Transpetro boss Sergio Machado

The Brazilian tanker owner says it has invited 25 domestic shipyards to compete for the contract, according to a release issued today.

Transpetro says established yards and “virtual shipyards”, yards that have yet to be established, have been invited to submit bids.

The order is for 80 barges and 20 pusher tugs.

Each convoy will be made up of one tug and four barges. The Petrobras shipping arm says it expects the bidding process to end in the first half of 2010, with the first vessels being delivered in the second half of 2011.

Transpetro says that each convoy will be capable of transporting 7.2m litres of ethanol, and the total transportation capacity for the convoys will reach 4 billion litres per year.

As TradeWinds has reported, market sources put the value of the order at about $200m, a figure the company could not confirm.

The convoys will operate on Brazil’s Tiete waterway which runs through Sao Paulo.

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, attended the project’s launching ceremony held in the town Aracatuba.

“Using waterways will afford a reduction in the logistics costs for our ethanol. This will allow us to gain competitiveness in all markets,” she said.

Rio de Janeiro-based Transpetro currently owns a fleet of 53 tankers and 49 newbuildings.

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