The SeaMar Group said its offshore support vessel Deep Helder has been hired on a six-month contract to support seabed mapping work for MMT. The contract for the 2014-build DP2 survey and ROV vessel will start in July 2020.
Leo Balkema, Managing Director of SeaMar said: “We are pleased to be awarded the contract in these uncertain times. The successful performance of the crew and vessel on previous projects for MMT prove to be an added value, and we do our utmost to continue delivering a safe and stable platform for their services.”
“We are very glad we can continue to develop the relationship with SeaMar and optimize the high performance of the Deep Helder for a variety of survey activities for the remainder of this year,” said Nils Ingvarson CCO at MMT.
According to MarineTraffic data, the Deep Helder earlier in May left the Port on Den Helder and is now on its way to the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA.
Interestingly, the New Bedford Port Authority has recently launched a call for an offshore renewables supply chain consultant to help make the Port of New Bedford the first port of call for the offshore renewables industry and the model for local supply chain integration."
Also worth reminding, back in October 2019, MMT formed a U.S. subsidiary and opened an office in Boston, Massachusetts, with the aim to offer geophysical and geotechnical marine surveys along the US East Coast for the offshore renewables market.
Just last month, MMT, in tandem with Reach Subsea, said it had won a contract by Equinor Wind US, a U.S. offshore wind business of the Norwegian energy firm Equinor, for geophysical survey services for the planning and engineering of Equinor’s lease area offshore New England.
Per information announced in April, the Equinor work will be carried out utilizing the Stril Explorer vessel, which is equipped with the Surveyor Interceptor SROV. Survey operations are expected to start in late summer 2020 and are expected to run continuously throughout Q2 2021.