Astican completes six-month upgrade to US-owned research vessel Nautilus
The research vessel Nautilus, seen on Astican’s shiplift and transfer system, nearing the end of her six-month upgrade project (Source: TDI-Brooks)
The 2,367gt 2000-built research vessel Nautilus arrived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on March 3rd for her new owners, College School, Texas-based TDI-Brooks, after successfully completing a six-month refit and upgrade project at Las Palmas’ Astican shipyard. The vessel has been upgraded to work in the offshore wind farm sector.
The 75m-long Nautilus is equipped with a DP2-class dynamic positioning system for precise station-keeping operations and now features advanced technologies, including a Geomil Manta-200 CPT core penetration testing system that can be deployed through the vessel’s midships moonpool. This system can penetrate the seabed soil up to 40-50m, depending on its composition, to determine the soil's exact makeup.
Determining the exact makeup of the seabed soil is crucial for the best location and design for the offshore development of wind farms.
The offshore renewable energy sector is expanding rapidly, resulting in high demand for TDI-Brooks’ services on both the east coast and the west coast of the US.
Nautilus is a versatile vessel, equipped with a North American MCK-1240 upper forecastle deck, starboard mounted, 7.1-ton SWL capacity deck crane, a large deck space and accommodation for 46 persons.
The research vessel is fitted with TDI-Brooks’ complete geotechnical tool kit, including a suite of innovative tools for soil sampling and measurements. Nautilus is also fitted with a Teledyne Reson full ocean depth multi-beam echo sounder for performing hydrographic marine, surface geotechnical “seep hunting” and seabed heat flow surveys.
Meanwhile, vessels undergoing repair at Astican on March 8th included the following:
- Paul A. Sacuta – 6,422gt 2017-built PSV, owned by Canada’s Atlantic Towing, Saint John, New Brunswick
- BOS Prince – 3,828dwt 2015-built OSV. This vessel is the recently sold VOS Prime, sold by Holland’s VOS Offshore Services as part of its restructuring. The name of the vessel’s new owners is not known
- Fugro Resolve – 3,956dwt 2015-built PSV, owned by Fugro Offshore. This vessel is being converted for geotechnical drilling operations
- Seven Seas – 18,367gt 2008-built offshore pipelayer, owned by the UK’s Subsea 7, London
