Wilson Sons bags seven-vessel dry dock deal with Vale

Seven Vale vessels that operate in the company’s Rio de Janeiro terminals will undergo scheduled maintenance at Wilson Sons’ Guarujá, Port of Santos shipyard over a five-year period, saving 67% in fuel, the companies claim. 

Wilson Sons said 60 experts will work on the vessels across tasks including tank cleaning, hull and tank treatment and painting, structural repairs, disassembly and valve testing.

Tugboat Guaíba was the first of seven vessels to be docked under the contract; work on the vessel started on July 18th. Another vessel is expected to enter dry dock once work is completed on Guaíba. The other vessels scheduled under the contract are tugboats Moatize, Mutuca, Alegria and Fazendão and ferry boats Vale Mangaratiba and Vale Sahi.

Rodrigo Vasconcelos, director of operations at Vale in Rio de Janeiro’s Costa Verde area, said: “Positive expectations for the start of this new partnership between Vale and Wilson Sons, which represents a significant step towards our shared goal: ensuring the safety and quality of our processes. We are confident that, by combining our resources and expertise, we will be able to achieve better results and offer even greater value to our client.”

The Vale drydockings will take place alongside the construction of WS Onix, the last in a series of six tugs built at the yard and the first in Brazil to meet International Maritime Organization TIER III rules, according to the yard.

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Five of these 90-ton bollard pull tugs have been delivered since July 2022 — WS Centaurus, WS Orion, WS Rosalvo, WS Castor and WS Dorado. The delivery of WS Onix later this year will be the 154th vessel built in Wilson Sons’ yards.