E.R. Offshore's Brazilian sister company is now registered as an independent ship management firm under Brazilian law. E.R. Offshore Navegação Ltda. is recognised as an Empresa Brasileira de Navegação (EBN), strengthening the specialist ship management company's position in the important Brazilian offshore market.

Now that it has established its own Brazilian shipping company, E.R. Offshore will be able to work with its clients in a closer, more direct fashion in the future. This will be particularly true of its most important charterer, the state-owned oil company Petrobras. Six of the offshore vessels in the fleet of 13 operated by E.R. Offshore have been in service for Petrobras in Brazil since 2010. All of them are currently sailing in the Campos Basin. At around 100,000 square kilometres, it is the main exploration site off the Brazilian coast near Rio de Janeiro.

Its status as an EBN also enables E.R. Offshore to improve its standing as an attractive employer on the Brazilian market. This is important, primarily because it helps the firm to recruit well-qualified local staff. In line with the legal requirements, at least 66 per cent of the crew on board the vessels operating in Brazil are Brazilian nationals.

˜Brazil is a key offshore market. Although the economic environment is currently challenging, we are confident that the Brazilian offshore business will develop positively in the future. By establishing the EBN, we are underlining the importance of this market for our company,' explained Rainer Kehl, managing director of E.R. Offshore Navegação. Five employees work at the office in Macaé, 190 kilometres north-east of Rio de Janeiro. E.R. Offshore Navegação opened a second office in Rio de Janeiro in February 2015, which is managed by Gabriela Thielmann.