Edison Chouest Offshore’s C-Port facilities in Port Fourchon, La., will soon welcome an overseas cousin — B-Port — into the family.

Construction is underway on a logistics support base and naval repair facility at the Port of Acu in São João da Barra in northern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Chouest has had a presence in Brazil for years.

ECO has signed an agreement with Prumo Logistica for the lease of 574,200 sq. meters of property (if all future contract options are exercised).

Some of the features of B-Port include nine slips that are more than 95' in width with two 25-ton overhead cranes, a 146' wide heavy lift slip berth and two 100-ton overhead cranes. In addition, the new facilities will feature straight docks that can accommodate up to five large platform supply vessels simultaneously, floating drydock, and indoor and outdoor facilities that can handle as many as 15 vessels at a time.

“We are already investing to meet the current demand of our international customers and new bids in the industry, and our unit at the Port of Acu is essential for such,” Ricardo Chagas, Chouest’s Brazilian Director, said in a statement announcing the construction of B-Port.

The expected start of operations at the new facility is sometime during the first half of next year.