The Brazilian crude oil tanker Olavo Bilac lost rudder control and collided with three navy patrol boats at the Port of Santos near São Paulo on March 12, 2025, at around 11:20 PM local time, according to MarineTraffic.
The incident involved the navy vessels Gujara, Guapore, and Maracana, all of which were docked at the port. Online footage captured the 249-meter-long tanker, with a beam of 43.9 meters and a gross tonnage of 61,426, running into a pier before striking the navy boats.
The Olavo Bilac, a 2018-built vessel carrying 50,000 tons of fuel oil, was brought back to the Alemoa 1 pier with tugboat assistance. One navy officer sustained minor injuries and was released after medical treatment.
On March 13, the Port Authority inspected the tanker, identifying a large scrape but confirming no signs of an oil spill or pollution.
Transpetro (Operator of Olavo Bilac), a subsidiary of Petrobras based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, operates a fleet of tankers and manages over 14,000 kilometers of pipelines for oil and gas transport in Brazil.