Nautilus Minerals hails progress of support ship

NAUTILUS Minerals chief executive Mike Johnston says Mawei Shipyard continues to make “excellent progress” on the building of its support vessel.
Johnston, in a statement, gave an update on the progress in the building of its production support vessel and associated equipment.
They will used by Nautilus and its partner, Eda Kopa (Solwara) Limited, at the Solwara 1 project site in New Ireland.
“Mawei Shipyard continues to make excellent progress on the production of the support vessel,” Johnston said.
“Highlights for this period include the installation of the in-hold material handling system allowing the closing of the vessel’s deck, the installation of the derrick substructures and the advancement of the derrick structure.”
Mawei Shipyard in China had reported that the support vessel was more than 75 per cent complete.
The in-hold cargo handling systems have all been fabricated, assembled and installed in the four holds of the vessel.
This has allowed for the installation of deck blocks and close out of the deck of the vessel in preparation for the derrick installation.
The Sichuan Honghua Petroleum Equipment Co has made progress with fabrication of the derrick and associated substructure.
The equipment is required for the deployment of the subsea slurry lift pump and riser.