Page 23: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2024)

SHUTTLE TRANSPORT & RESUPPLY SHIP tank construction, subdivision, piping further complicate the operations. These of groundwork on the regulatory com- and oil/water separation arrangements. trigger provisions in SOLAS and MAR- pliance aspect of the STARS vessels.

Conventional bulk ore carriers would POL which require signi? cant design The publishing of the “Requirements not meet these requirements as they do modi? cations for regulatory adherence. for Subsea Mining” was the ? rst and un- not refuel other vessels. Furthermore, The result is that retro? tting existing til now, the only Classi? cation Society their design optimizes for bulk carriage, bulk ore carriers into STARS is likely Rules for this industry. It is expected rather than the sub-division and ? ood- to be prohibitively complex and expen- that in the future a new vessel desig- ing protection that MARPOL typically sive, and it seems likely that a new pur- nation such Supply Transport and Re- requires. Consequently, signi? cant ret- pose-built type of vessel will be needed supply Vessel will be accepted by Flag ro? tting would be required of conven- to meet these needs. However, design States and by the DSM regulatory bod- tional bulk carriers. and construction lead times (particularly ies (ISA, Cook Is SBMA etal.) much as availability of shipyard space) mean that Subsea Mining Vessel was accepted for

Options - New Construction these vessels are increasingly becoming the Alllseas Hidden Gem.

or Major Re? t the limiting factor for successful deep In order to be successful, DSM stake-

As with any other engineering design sea mining operations. holders need to carefully consider this calculation, cost and scheduling con- As with the PSV, the American Bu- “missing link” in their supply chain.

straints will be major considerations. reau of Shipping has done a great deal

On the cost side, an existing handy or

The Author handymax bulk carrier can be readily

Gales purchased on the second-hand market.

Phillip Gales is a serial tech entrepreneur who specializes in

However, extensive hull and machinery building AI and Data companies for heavy industry. He runs a modi? cations would be required in or- strategy and data analysis ? rm for subsea minerals: https:// der to meet the minimum requirements deepseamining.ac. He holds an MBA from Harvard Busi- of Dynamic Positioning, IP code and ness School & an MEng from the University of Cambridge.

MARPOL tanker.

Conclusion

Shipment of bulk polymetallic nod- ules from a deep sea mining mine site appears at ? rst glance to be a rela- tively simple issue, requiring the use of standard bulk ore carriers with mi- nor modi? cations. However, the com- bination of remote mine-sites, long distances and complex supply-chains means that the STARS vessels are ex- pected to do far more work than a typi- cal bulk ore carrier.

Operating complexities, including combinations of pre-determined sub- optimal courses, large unhandy vessels, and tight of? oading criteria, mean that the process of of? oading bulk nodules is complex. These operations likely ne- cessitate the retro? tting of thruster pods and DP2 capabilities to existing ore car- riers, whilst the operations themselves are unprecedented and currently lack regulations.

Further logistical optimizations, such as the use of the STARS to transport

Visit us at IMX Booth #638 food, fuel, equipment, and personnel, www.marinelink.com 23

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