The Brazilian Navy has bought three anchor handling tug supply vessels from Norwegian shipping company Solstad Farstad in a public auction in Brazil.
The vessels, Sea Fox, Sea Vixen and Sea Stoat, were previously used by Brazilian oil giant Petrobras on its fields and were offered for sale by Solstad Offshore before it merged with Farstad Shipping and Deep Sea Supply into Solstad Farstad, a major offshore service vessel (OSV) company.
According to the company, the vessels were sold at a price of BRL 82.8 mill (USD 24 million) and will be delivered to the navy by 2017-end.
Built between 2010 and 2011 at ABG Shipyards, India, the AHTS are 63 meters long and have a bollard pull of approximately 90 tonnes.
The Brazilian Navy intends to use the boats for search and rescue services and ocean towing but they could also be used for refueling of ships at sea.