Last year, Maritime by Holland Magazine reported about Aquarius-G and Astra-G, two innovative Seismic Research Support Vessels (SRSVs) developed by Rederij Groen in conjunction with Maaskant Shipyards and Saltwater Engineering. Both vessels performed outstandingly, and when they came back after a summer working in the Northern Bering Sea and a winter along the West-African Coast, a one-day stopover in Scheveningen harbour was sufficient to clear just seven warranty issues, So it came as no surprise when Rederij Groen selected Maaskant Shipyards for their next newbuilding programme of three more Seismic Research Support Vessels. This time however, the design was already fixed by Rederij Groen's charter client, who initially had planned to build the vessels themselves. They opted for a slightly smaller vessel, to reduce the manning requirements and operational costs. As we will see, the design remains close to the converted fishing trawlers which were used in the past for this task, but under the hood, there are significant differences.
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