MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has been awarded a contract by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Limited for two subsea knuckle boom cranes to be installed on the world’s first seabed mining vessel.
Delivery of the cranes is scheduled for Q1/2017. The order was booked into first quarter 2015 order intake.
The 227m production support vessel has a beam of 40m. It has been designed by Singapore’s SeaTech Solutions for Dubai-based owner Marine Assets Corporation (MAC). Following delivery at the end of 2017, it will operate under long-term charter to Canadian seafloor exploration company Nautilus Minerals Inc.
The MacGregor order consists of two knuckle boom cranes; a 200t active heave-compensation (AHC) subsea crane with the capability to operate to a depth of 2,500m, and a smaller 100t subsea crane.
This vessel will be used to extract high grade copper, gold, silver and ore from the seabed in water depths of 1,600 meters.