Brazilian shipbuilders get boost

The first step towards initializing the Technological Improvement Program (TIP) aimed at boosting the Brazilian shipbuilding industry was taken with the signing of an agreement worth approximately $14.6 million between the government, Petrobras (Brazilian Petroleum, S.A.), Transpetro (a Petrobras subsidiary), and nine of the country’s research institutes, most of them associated with universities. According to the minister of Science and Technology, the agreement will foster the development of technology to enhance the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry.

A spokesman for Transpetro said that the object of the agreement is to create technological conditions for the Brazilian shipbuilding industry to regain a prominent position in the global shipbuilding market, which accounts for an annual turnover of $ 70 billion. Petrobras and Transpetro plan to rejuvenate the recovery of the nation’s shipyards through their ?fleet modernization and expansion program? with orders for 42 vessels.