Cork-based Irish Mainport Holdings attended the keel-laying ceremony of a 41.2m newbuild, Geo Master, at one of Neptune Marine's shipyards in the Netherlands yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore.
In the province of South Holland, at the Neptune Construction B.V. yard in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, to mark the occasion as part of shipbuilding tradition, a coin was placed in the newbuild hull of the hybrid survey and ROV support vessel designed for use in the offshore wind sector.
Neptune Marine was able to source an Irish Millennium one ‘Punt’ (pound) coin featuring the national symbol of the harp and on the reverse a sailing boat with oars. The coin is now pressed into the newbuild’s first hull block of the vessel, which, when completed, is to be 498 gross tons.
Sub-sea infrastructure solutions provider N-Sea Group, based in Dordrecht, has signed a long-term charter agreement with Mainport Shipping for the delivery of the Geo Master. Among the attendees of the keel-laying was their Dutch chairman, Hans Simons.
Also of the same design is the Geo Ranger, equipped with similar equipment that is managed by N-Sea. As for Geo Master, the new build will be upgraded to meet the latest standards in fuel efficiency and emissions. In addition, the newbuild will be able to run on biofuel.
Neptune has scheduled the delivery in the first quarter of 2026 of the new build at Hardinxveld-Giessendam, where it splits into the Beneden Merwede and the Nieuwe Merwede rivers.
The Geo Master is expected to be handed over to Irish Mainport Holdings early in the same year.
A crew of 7 will be provided accommodation in addition to 19 personnel on what will be a Dutch-flagged vessel, which will be under full commercial management and control of N-Sea.
