PHOTO: Nautilus’ Seafloor Mining Vessel Floats in Dry Dock

Nautilus Minerals informed that the Production Support Vessel (PSV) was floated in the Fujian Mawei Shipyard dry dock last week to allow the launch of two adjacent vessels.

The steel cutting ceremony for the PSV took place on September 25, 2015.

The vessel is to be used by the Nautilus Minerals and its PNG partner, Eda Kopa (Solwara) Limited, as the base for its seafloor operations planned at the Solwara 1 seafloor mining project, in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea.

Mike Johnston, Nautilus’ CEO said: “The company was very excited to see the PSV floated in the dry dock last week, as it shows the fantastic progress the team at the Fujian Mawei Shipyard Ltd (FMSL) and Marine Assets Corporate (MAC) have made over the past three months. When you consider the first block for the PSV was laid on the 10th of June this year, to having a 220-meter hull able to be floated some 14 weeks later, it is a huge achievement by FMSL and a significant milestone for our company.

“We have worked with FMSL, MAC and others on the PSV for over two years now. During this time, we have established a very good working relationship, with very capable stakeholders. We are now looking forward to continuing that strong working relationship as we progress the final build phase and fit out of the vessel.”

Previously, Nautilus informed that it requires additional funding in order to continue development of the Solwara 1 Project, and if secured by June 2017, it could be in a position to begin the initial deployment and testing operations at the Solwara 1 by the end of Q1 2019.