Key points
- Hidden Gem, a former 228-metre drill ship, is undergoing conversion at the Damen shipyard in Rotterdam into Allseas’ first polymetallic nodule production vessel.
- Work underway includes installing the vessel’s launch and recovery system (LARS), which deploys and controls the 12-metre nodule collector vehicle on the seabed 5 kilometres below the surface.
- The LARS is fitted with a mix of winches and compensators and houses the control umbilical.
