Mainport Shipping has welcomed its new offshore support ship, Mainport Edge, to Cork. This ship will support seabed survey facilities for global geo-data specialists in the international offshore energy sector. Mainport’s investment has been made against the backdrop of strong demand for seabed survey vessels in the high growth European wind energy market.
The new ship was constructed by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding in China and is 59.6 metres in length overall. It is the second wind energy offshore support ship in the Mainport Shipping fleet.
After purchase in China, Mainport sailed the ship to Turkey where extensive modifications were carried out to cater for the offshore wind market. The current market value of the ship is €25 million.
The ship has already worked in the Mediterranean for six months following her modifications in Turkey. It will now commence a new charter in the Malin sea area to the West of Scotland.
The acquisition of MV Mainport Edge follows a multi-million euros equity investment into Mainport Shipping by MML Ireland 15 months ago for expansion of its business.
Mainport Shipping plans to acquire additional survey support ships to meet the exponential growth in demand from the offshore wind energy sector which is being driven by energy security and transition to cleaner sources of electricity.
Dave Ronayne, Chief Executive of Mainport Shipping, said:
“Today’s arrival represents a manifestation of our ambition in the offshore wind market to support geo-data specialists in international offshore energy. The complexity of surveying the seabed in deep waters, requires specialist vessels and support such as the Mainport Edge. Our market is fragmented with many shipping companies each with a limited number of ships. There is no dominant player. Through our long-standing experience of providing specialist vessels, combined with the investment in our initial modern survey support ships, we are, with the support of MML, on a definitive growth path in this market.”
Mainport Edge will work on the MachairWind 2 GW offshore wind project for Sulmara / Scottish Power Renewables in the Malin Sea Area. It will conduct a geophysical survey comprising of a range of acoustic and sonar sensors to investigate the seafloor and subsurface.
Mainport chose to use the Port of Cork, and Mainport’s local connections, to replenish the vessel and conduct all their maintenance requirements prior to going on charter with Sulmara in Larne.
The lender for the purchase of MainPort Edge was AIB Bank.
The majority shareholder in Mainport Shipping is Irish Mainport Holdings Ltd. (“IMH”). IMH was founded in 1957 to provide ship chartering for imports into Ireland. IMH is headquartered in Cork and is owned by the Ronayne family. The Company is lead by Dave Ronayne and operates four survey support ships and two tugboats and also supplies port and stevedoring services.
