History
Panama
Name	Mermaid Sapphire
Owner	Mermaid Offshore Services Ltd.[1]
Port of registry	Panama City, Panama[1]
Builder	PT Jaya Asiatic Shipyard, Batam, Indonesia[1]
Launched	2009[1]
Identification	IMO number: 9563859[1] Call sign: 3FJX5[1] MMSI number: 352890000[2]
Status	In service
General characteristics
Type	ROV & air diving support vessel[1]
Tonnage	2,070 GT[1] 1,481 DWT[2]
Length	63 m (206 ft 8 in) o/a[1]
Beam	15 m (49 ft 3 in)[1]
Draught	5 m (16 ft 5 in)[1]
Depth	6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)[1]
Installed power	2 × 470 kW (630 hp) Volvo + 1 × 99 kW (133 hp) Volvo emergency generator[1]
Propulsion	2 × 2,575 kW (3,453 hp) Caterpillar CPP 2 × 515 kW (691 hp) CPP bow thrusters 2 × 515 kW (691 hp) CPP stern thrusters[1]
Boats & landing craft carried	SMD Quasar Compact ROV[1]
Crew	60[1]

Mermaid Sapphire is an offshore multipurpose vessel.^[2] Built in 2009, the ship is used for mostly research and undersea work.

She is a purpose-built ABS Classed DP2 ROV and air diving support vessel, designed for operation of dual deepwater work-class ROV's (Quasar Compact or Triton XLX) plus optional inspection-class ROV. The ROV's are installed on a dedicated raised deck level, leaving all back deck space for project equipment. Mermaid Sapphire is also equipped with state-of-the-art subsea inspection data acquisition and data management systems. A 23-tonne knuckleboom crane, and auxiliary 5-tonne crane are also installed.^[1]

On March 26, 2012, she carried Deepsea Challenger to the Challenger Deep where the first solo dive to the bottom of the trench was made.^[3]

References