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44Maritime Reporter & Engineering News FEATURE SHIP REPAIR methods and timelines proposed. The technical analysis took 40 days and was followed by the opening of the commer- cial proposals.The Rio Tietê shipyard won an impres- sive contract to build barges and barge pushers in order to form 20 convoys ca- pable of transporting two million gallons each for Petrobras´s ship division, Transpetro. Each convoy is made up of four barges and one pusher, so the order is for a total of 80 barges and 20 push boats, an investment of around $200m. The plans also call for the new shipyard to make extensive repair in existing river barges and tug boats. With an investment of around $20m the new inland water- way shipyard is expected to create 500 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs in the cityof Araçatuba, in the state of São Paulo. The shipyard will be controlled by Rio Maguari S.A. andEstrePetróleo.Ship Repair IndustryHuge order lists are now the norm for the new Brazilian shipbuilding industry, with dozens of new tankers, rigs, and drill ships; and hundreds of support ves- sels and multi-purpose vessels currently under contract for construction across thecountry. At the same time there already aremany older PSVs, rigs, tankers, FPSOs and drillships working the various off- shore plays or transporting goods. The rigors of working in increasingly deep, hostile waters mean that the need for this quickly growing fleet of vessels big and small to be serviced, repaired and/or con-verted will grow in kind. The key con- cern now in the country in existing shipyards is balancing the demands of newbuild contracts with the coming boom in repair. The solution: building new yards spe- cialized in ship and rig repair and con-version along with more intelligent use and modernization of existing facilities. The local maritime equipment industryis trying to cope with the demand, but local taxes still strangle them and much of the equipment being used by the mar- itime repair industry is being imported,most coming from China. It will still take at least another decade for the local mar- itime equipment industry to get up tospeed and become internationally com-petitive. While a political decision for the maritime equipment and services in-dustry is discussed, foreign suppliers willgain increasing strength and importance, and local content law will flex in order that the shipbuilding and ship repair in- dustries do to stagnate. Particularly, as local yards struggle to attract, train and maintain qualified workers for certain repair and conversion jobs and also in order to make repair deadlines when shipyards are over- booked. While many companies from around the globe are flocking to Brazil to take part in the growing energy and maritime business?, enthusiasm can be tempered with political moves, such as the Brazil- ian government?s recently declared a new ?currency war? on the US, Europe and Asia by extending taxes on foreign bor- rowings and threatening more control over capital to try and protect local man- ufacturing industries. The maritime equipment industry is one of the most af-fected by foreign monetary policies."When the real appreciates, it reducesour competitiveness. Exports are more expensive, imports are cheaper and it cre- ates unfair competition for businesses in Brazil," said Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega after announcing changes to the local IOF tax.Through a presidential decree, theBrazilian government extended the ex- isting 6% financial transactions tax on overseas loans maturing in up to three years. Previously, the levy was applied only to loans with maturities of underNewShipyards in Brazil (The majority of these shipyards, build and repair ships, rigs, FPSOs and PSVs).Shipyards recently launched: Aliança Offshore São Gonçalo (RJ) Shipyards being built:  Estaleiro Rio Tietê Araçatuba (SP)  EstaleiroJurong Aracruz (ES)  Estaleiro OSX São João da Barra (RJ)  EstaleiroInhauma Rio de Janeiro (RJ) Shipyards with approved building licences:  Promar Suape (PE)  EBR ? Estaleiros do Brasil São José do Norte (RS) Shipyards with approved priority financing by the FMM:(FMM stands for Maritime IndustryFund and is offered by Brazilian de- velopment bank BNDES) Construcap Suape (PE)  EstaleiroPromar Suape (PE)  EisaAlagoas Coruripe (AL)  EstaleiroEnseadadoParaguaçu Margogipe (BA)  EstaleiroCorema SimõesFilho (BA)  P2 Estaleiro ? Itajaí (SC)  Estaleiros do Brasil ? EBR São José do Norte (RS)  EstaleirosAmazônia EASA Belém (PA) ?Shipyard Expansion  EstaleiroAliança Niterói (RJ) Shipyard Expansion  CQG Construções Offshore Rio Grande RSSource: Sinaval (Ship Construction, Repair and Offshore National Union) P-53 undergoing repairs and conversion. (Photo: Petrobras) MR March 12 # 6 (41-49):MR Template 3/6/2012 12:38 PM Page 44