A 12-year-old drillship is being refit as a subsea mining vessel to gather valuable polymetallic nodules on the ocean floor for the next generation of batteries
When Petrobras first put the 2010-built drillship Vitoria on the auction block in September 2019, it drew no opening bids at US$47M. Determined to sell the sixth generation ultra-deepwater drillship, the Brazilian oil company lowered its expectations, setting opening minimum bids at US$5M at a second auction in October 2019. Hong Kong-based cash ship buyer Best Oasis Ltd emerged with a winning bid of US$15.05M. It looked like the Samsung 10000 design vessel was destined for the scrapyard.
But offshore contractor Allseas and its partner, Canadian start-up The Metals Group (TMC), saw a different future for the 228-m oil and gas stalwart in the global energy transition — subsea mining. Allseas acquired the vessel in March 2020 from Best Oasis for US$24.5M, according to UK ship valuations firm VesselsValue, setting the wheels in motion for a new life for the ship.
Driving the partnership is a shared vision to develop the world’s largest estimated source of battery metals, which will be critical in the green transition, according to Allseas founder and president Edward Heerema.
“This is a groundbreaking project that is advancing the frontiers of this emerging industry”
TMC chairman and chief executive Gerard Barron noted converting assets from the oil and gas industry “enables us to reach our milestones with significantly less capital expense.”
Allseas is converting the drillship to an ABS-class subsea mining vessel at Damen Shiprepair in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Renamed Hidden Gem, the vessel is being equipped with a deepsea mineral collection system to recover polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor and transfer them to the surface for transportation to shore.
These nodules contain high grades of nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt – key metals used in building electric vehicle batteries and other technologies.
Seabed mining is a new field that involves retrieving minerals from the ocean floor. The sea floor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a remote part of the Pacific Ocean, contains a large, untapped collection of rare-earth ores.
Allseas is leading the development of a polymetallic nodule collector and riser system to gather nodules that sit unattached atop the abyssal seafloor within contract areas held by TMC in the CCZ.
Hidden Gem will become the first to be classed as a subsea mining vessel by ABS, which published its Guide for Subsea Mining in 2020. The guide covers class requirements for the design, construction, installation and survey of mobile offshore mining units.
Commenting on the conversion, ABS vice president global offshore Matt Tremblay said: “This is a groundbreaking project that is advancing the frontiers of this emerging industry, which has such a vital role to play in supporting how the global market sources and manufactures sustainable technologies.”
TMC and Allseas expect the vessel to be operational for pilot nodule collection tests by mid-2022.
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