Por Onde Anda? Bram Force

More than a year after an engine room fire forced it out of service, Bram Force has returned to operations in the Campos Basin, once again working near Petrobras’ P-37, close to where the casualty occurred.

Delivered by Navship in 2017, the Brazilian-flagged AHTS is part of Bram Offshore, the Brazilian subsidiary of Edison Chouest Offshore.

On 8 January 2025, while operating near P-37, the vessel suffered an engine room fire. The crew was safely evacuated by a nearby Maersk vessel, while firefighting operations continued for approximately 12 hours. No injuries or pollution were reported.

The vessel was subsequently towed to the Port of Açu, where the Brazilian Navy opened an Administrative Inquiry before repairs were carried out at Navship in Itajaí, the yard where the vessel was originally built. The shipyard also supports a significant portion of Bram Offshore’s fleet maintenance programme, backed by BRL 186.1 million in Merchant Marine Fund financing approved by BNDES.

AIS data now confirms that Bram Force has resumed offshore operations after more than a year undergoing repairs.

The Brazilian Navy investigated the casualty, but no public conclusion has been released regarding its cause.

That silence is no longer an isolated issue.

Over the past few years, Brazil’s offshore sector has witnessed a succession of engine room fires involving support vessels. Skandi Búzios at Port of Açu in 2023. Navegantes Pride and Bram Force within days of each other in January 2025. Sealink 178 during repairs in Niterói a few months later. More recently, Skandi Logger in the Campos Basin, where DOF attributed the fire to an electrical short circuit in a switchboard.

No responsible analyst could conclude that these events share a common cause. The available evidence simply does not support that conclusion.

Equally, however, no responsible industry should dismiss the possibility that recurring casualties deserve a broader technical assessment rather than isolated investigations.

The return of Bram Force marks the end of one casualty. It should not mark the end of the discussion.

The offshore industry has become exceptionally competent at responding to emergencies. The next challenge is to become equally effective at understanding why they continue to happen.