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24 November 2009
The Listing Manager
Australian Stock Exchange
Exchange Centre
Level 4
20 Bridge Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Mermaid Marine Contracts New PSV
The Directors of Mermaid Marine Australia Ltd (MMA) are pleased to announce that the Company has
entered into a contract to purchase a new 70 metre DP II Platform Supply Vessel (PSV). This vessel
is the first of its type in our fleet and is ideally suited to supporting offshore drilling and offshore
construction.
Construction of the vessel is expected to be completed around mid December and the purchase will
be funded through a combination of debt and existing cash reserves.
The general arrangement of the vessel is attached.
MMA are also pleased to advise that it has received a Letter of Intent from Geokinetics to charter the
vessel for an 18 month period subject to the parties finalising the agreed terms. It is intended that the
vessel will be modified to undertake cable laying and retrieval to support Geokinetics’ Ocean Bottom
Cable (OBC) operations. The vessel is expected to commence operations around April 2010.
MMA currently operate an OBC fleet of three vessels for Geokinetics in Angola. With ongoing
contracting success, Geokinetics are now in a position to upgrade their cable boat operation to
improve productivity. The vessel has substantially larger deck space than the current cable vessel
and being DP II, has enhanced ability to accurately lay the cable.
In addition Geokinetics have also agreed to extend the charter of the Mermaid Discovery for another
12 months. The Mermaid Discovery is currently operating in Egypt and now has a firm charter until
November 2010.
MMA Managing Director, Mr Jeffrey Weber, said: “The purchase of the new PSV and subsequent
charter to Geokinetics is a strong endorsement of MMA’s operating capability.
“The addition of a DP II PSV to our fleet enhances the ability of the Company to provide services to
the exploration sector of the market in addition to our traditional construction support services.
“We appreciate the ongoing support from Geokinetics and are confident this vessel will drive
productivity improvements across their OBC operations”.
For further information please contact:
Mr. Jeffrey Weber, Managing Director – 0418 855 275
Mr. Peter Raynor, Chief Financial Officer – 0418 901 620