Cork-based Irish Mainport Group, whose seismic support ship, Mainport Pine, has for the last ten months been working off the coast of India, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The 1,659 gross registered tons Mainport Pine had been operating in the South Asian country through the port of Kakinada which is on the Bay of Bengal.
Mainport operates in the international seismic support sector, and as a specialist shipowner, they also have multi-role vessels in the form of surveying / research vessels also available for this market.
According to Mainport Seismic Holdings, the schedule for the vessel has been very busy, having involved 58 different port calls and the transfer of 829 passengers for a client. As well as tasks involving a lot of specialised cargo work and fuelling operations.
On the departure from India, a call was made to the Port of Durban in South Africa, where Mainport’s technical manager, Micheál O Conghaile, conducted an inspection of the 54.6m length overall (LOA) ship. Also on hand was Marine HSEQ superintendent Callum Howard, who conducted ISM & ISPS internal audits, as well as overseeing class annual inspection and annual servicing of lifesaving equipment.
It was during this in-port inspection last month, where the technical team and the crew had a photo taken alongside the Marshall Islands-flagged ship.
Mainport Pine was to depart Durban for new projects off the African continent, firstly to the Ivory Coast, the West African state, and afterwards another job in Angola, so this will form a very busy time for the ship over the next few months.
Through tracking, Afloat can confirm that Mainport Pine has since departed Durban and is currently on a voyage in the Southern Atlantic Ocean bound for Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The seismic support ship is due to arrive at the port on the Gulf of Guinea on Monday of next week.
The seismic /chase ship built in 2014 at the Shin Yang Miri shipyard in Malaysia was followed by the elder twin, Mainport Cedar, also from the same yard but completed the previous year.
Accommodation is designed for 50 persons, of which 10 are officers and crew and 40 represent other personnel. All of the berths are fully air-conditioned with washrooms/WC. In addition, there is a 1-bed hospital facility.
On the domestic scene, Mainport Group has a multi-marine role in offering port services with ship agency, stevedoring, offshore oil and wind support, warehousing, and a tug fleet through its subsidiary, Celtic Tugs. In recent months their Celtic Rebel was sold to Greek interests but is serving also in west Africa.
