Por Onde Anda? – Carmen III

The original name was Princess Ihuaku.

The vessel was intended for Tidewater.

The plan was for delivery in the early 2010s.

But when the vessel was finally delivered in 2017, the offshore market was already a very different one, and her identity was also about to change.

Carmen III began as hull NT8002, part of a four-vessel PSV programme ordered by Tidewater from Drydocks World in 2010.

The series was expected to begin delivery in 2012, but the vessel was not completed until April 2017. By then, offshore activity had contracted, vessel oversupply was pressuring day rates and Tidewater was approaching a financial restructuring under Chapter 11.

The origin of the name Princess Ihuaku is not explained in the public records reviewed. Ihuaku is an Igbo given name commonly translated as “the face of wealth”.

Completed by DDW-PaxOcean, the PSV measured approximately 81.3 metres in length, 16 metres in beam and around 3,200 tonnes of deadweight. She was equipped with DP2 capability, diesel-electric propulsion and approximately 670 square metres of usable deck area.

In the same year, the vessel was acquired by Marinsa, part of Grupo CEMZA. Renamed Carmen, she was placed under the Mexican flag in December 2017 and later became Carmen III.

The vessel found a new role in the Mexican offshore market. But years later, Brazil would present a different challenge.

A difficult entry into Brazil

Marinsa mobilised Carmen III to Brazil for a Petrobras PSV 3000 charter, working locally with Internav.

The vessel reached the Rio de Janeiro area in 2025, but the proposed foreign-flag charter faced blocking requests from Brazilian tonnage during the regulatory circularisation process.

Wilson Sons offered two Brazilian-flagged PSVs: Mandrião and Atobá. ANTAQ ultimately declared the Mandrião blocking firm, while rejecting the Atobá blocking because the vessel did not meet Petrobras’ technical and operational requirements.

The confirmed Mandrião blocking was enough to prevent the foreign-vessel charter from progressing. According to market information reviewed by WSB, the issue could not be resolved, the charter was cancelled and Carmen III returned to Mexico.

Today, under the name Carmen III, the vessel remains officially listed by Marinsa as part of its specialised fleet. She has returned to the Gulf of Mexico, flying the Mexican flag and classified as a DP2 PSV, IMO 9605619.

Carmen III was designed for Tidewater, found a market in Mexico and, years later, discovered that reaching Brazil did not necessarily mean being able to operate.

The episode may not have been Marinsa’s only challenge in Brazil.

Coming next in Por Onde Anda? Lagunero, another vessel from the group with its own difficult chapter in the country.