Mermaid Marine takes delivery of MPV

Fremantle, Western Australia, based Mermaid Marine Australia Ltd (MMA) has taken delivery of its latest newbuild vessel, a 54 m multipurpose OSV, the Mermaid Searcher.

The vessel is currently en route to Australia having sailed from Hong Kong on December 12.

The vessel was constructed specifically for Mermaid Marine through Cheoy Lee, a Hong Kong based shipbuilder with a track record of constructing high quality vessels and was built at the Guangzhou Panyu Lingshan Shipyard in Southern China to a modified Conan Wu design taking into account the additional requirements for an Australia operated vessel.

The Mermaid Searcher is designed as a multi-purpose vessel in line with MMA's strategy of providing clients with a flexible fleet tailored to meet the ongoing demand for vessel services in MMA's core North West Shelf market.

The Mermaid Searcher's first major role is supporting the pipeline installation for Woodside's Pluto project and it will contribute to earnings in the second half of FY2009.

The vessel has a Special Purpose Certificate which allows it to carry up to 34 people and the layout and equipment on board makes it well suited for survey, ROV work or cargo operations. Equipped with Joy Stick control and bow and stern thrusters it has excellent station holding capability to ensure safe and efficient operations.

The technical details of the vessel are as follows:

Class: ABS

Flag: Australian

LOA: 54 m

Beam: 13.8 m

Draft: 4.5 m

BHP: 3,200

Fuel: 900 cu.m

Water: 100 cu.m

Deck Space: 220 sq.m main deck, 50 sq.m mezzanine deck

Accommodations: 34 POB