Prosafe has signed contract amendments and an extension with Petrobras which will see the Brazilian oil firm switch out the semisubmersible accommodation vessel Safe Eurus for sister vessel Safe Notos.
Safe Notos was already due to start a contract with Petrobras, within Q1 2017, but it will now start at an earlier date within Q4 2016.
In addition, the original contract will now be extended from the original three-years by 222 days. The total value of the extended Safe Notos contract is now approximately US$189 million.
As part of the same agreement, Prosafe has agreed a dayrate reduction of about 14% for the Safe Concordia from Q2 2016 and to provide Petrobras the option to early terminate the Safe Concordia contract on commencement of Safe Notos operations.
The Safe Notos was delivered in February 2016 and is a technologically advanced and efficient DP3, harsh environment semisubmersible safety and maintenance support vessel, able to accommodate up to 500 persons with extensive recreation facilities, and capable of supporting construction projects using a large deck area and capable cranes.
The Safe Notos has been undergoing final preparatory works offshore Singapore to ensure full compliance with Petrobras requirements and in July will start its transit to Brazil where the final approval processes will be conducted for start of operations within Q4 2016.
The move comes as Prosafe proposed a comprehensive refinancing to "provide greater financial flexibility for the company throughout the period until the end of 2020, including a solid liquidity buffer to weather a prolonged market downturn." As part of this move, the firm is also considering a private placement of minimum 4,368,000,000 and up to 5,040,000,000 new shares. Prosafe is headquartered in Cyprus and listed on the Oslo stock exchange.