MAY 2, 2013 — Mexico's national oil company, Pemex, yesterday signed a letter of intent with Spanish shipbuilder Hijos de J. Barreras (Astilleros Barreras) and its three shareholders agreeing terms for it to take a 51 percent share in the company.

Astilleros Barreras, whose shipyard is located in Vigo, northwest Spain, is in the process of coming out of bankruptcy. Under the arrangements signed yesterday, Pemex and the Barreras shareholders would put an initial Euros 10 million into the company, which is seen as providing it with sufficient working capital. Pemex said yesterday that the yard is expected to resume operations "within weeks."

Pemex said that its fleet is in need of renewal and that the medium term objective of the investment was to acquire knowhow that would enable it to create the capacity to build specialized ships in Mexico. It did not say what its short term objective was, but it would seem logical that this would include placing some initial newbuilding orders at Barreras.