Nautilus Minerals Inc. stated that the assembly of its second of three Seafloor Production Tools, the Collecting Machine, has commenced this week at Soil Machine Dynamics’ facility at Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Nautilus’ CEO, Mike Johnston , said: “ Having already announced in April this year, the completion of the assembly of the Bulk Cutter, we are delighted that the assembly of the CM has now commenced, with the arrival of the chassis at the SMD facility. This is an exciting time for the Company as we continue with the build of the seafloor production equipment. We look forward to the commencement of the assembly of the third and final SPT, the Auxiliary Cutter, when its chassis is delivered next month.”
The CM is the lightest of the three SPTs weighing 200 tonnes when fully assembled. It is designed to collect material cut from the seafloor by drawing it in as seawater slurry with internal pumps and pushing it through a flexible pipe to the Riser and Lifting System and onto the Production Support Vessel, arrangements for which are to be in place by the end of the year.
Subsea vehicle designer and manufacturer, SMD of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, is the company responsible for building the SPTs for Nautilus.
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Press Release, May 28, 2014