Ship Engines, Thruster Packages Awarded

Nautilus Minerals Inc. announced that the order for the engines and thruster packages for the company’s production support vessel has been awarded to Rolls Royce Marine of Norway. The order, which secures the main engines, azimuth and tunnel thrusters, is the first major package to be awarded by the shipyard, Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Limited.

Nautilus announced last year it had entered into an agreement with Marine Assets Corporation (MAC), for the charter of a vessel to be first deployed for use at the Solwara 1 Project (Project) and that MAC had entered into a contract with Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Ltd., to design and construct the vessel in accordance with Nautilus' specifications.

The vessel will first serve as the operational base to extract and to transport high grade copper and gold material from the Project site, in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea.

When completed, the vessel will measure 227 meters in length and 40 meters in width with accommodation for up to 180 people and generate approximately 31MW of power. All of the below deck mining equipment will be installed in the vessel during the build process to minimize the equipment integration to be completed following delivery of the vessel. The vessel is expected to be delivered by the end of 2017.