The "SEAMARK", an aluminium crew/supply boat, was ordered together with its sister "SIMONE K" by a Nigerian company in Lagos and both boats were built by Swiftships Inc., Morgan City, La. USA under hull number 492 and 491 respectively. After the Nigerian buyer company experienced some unpredictable financial difficulties, a joint venture with some investors close to ABC Maritime AG was formed and the 2 boats were delivered by the builders. On delivery in May 1998 ABC Maritime AG took over the boats into technical management in Morgan City. The "SEAMARK" was delivered on 20.05.1998.
Originally the boats should have been registered under the Nigerian flag and therefore the boats were built to US Coastguard standard for coastal service only. In order to fly an international flag and to obtain bank loans from an international bank, it became necessary to class the boats with one of the major classification societies. Some modification work to obtain class with ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) had to be carried out and delayed the departure of the boats. After classification the boats were registered under the flag of St. Vincent & the Grenadines and their home port is Kingstown. Official No: 7817, call sign: J8UZ3.
The two vessels sailed together with their own power to Nigeria and departed from Morgan City in the early morning of 04.07.1998. Morgan City is a small shrimp fishing and oil town about 2 car hours west of New Orleans on the Atchafalaya River, a side arm of the Mississippi. A short port call was made in Port of Spain, Trinidad and in Fortaleza, Brazil for bunkering, fresh water and provisions. From Fortaleza the boats crossed the Atlantic and made landfall at the African coast near Cape Palmas on the coast of Liberia. A third bunkering was made from a tanker at sea off the coast of Liberia.
The vessels arrived on 05.08.1998 in Lagos, then proceeded to the oil fields of Mobil Production (Nigeria) Ltd. at Eket (between Port Harcourt and Calabar, a small port at the eastern boarder of Nigeria) where they operate under a long time charter. The offshore oil fields of Mobil extend roughly over an area of about 45 by 25 nautical miles and approximately 30 ships of various types, such as supply vessels, crew boats, line handling boats, diving & maintenance vessels, crane barges, bunker vessels etc. operate permanently in these oil fields. The duties of "SEAMARK" and "SIMONE K" are changing at intervals of about 2-3 weeks, but basically one is engaged in the service between the shore base at Eket and the other boat is stationed in the fields for the transport of personnel and material between the various and numerous platforms and vessels.
The "SEAMARK" is driven by 3 sets of diesel engine/water jet propulsion units, each developing 825 BHP. The diesel engines are 12 cylinder Caterpillar, type 3412, driving Hamilton water jets via a reduction gear box and a short flexible shaft. This propulsion gives an extreme low draft and no driving parts, such as propellers can be damaged, as the jets are fitted onto the vertical transom below a deck extension.
This type of propulsion was selected because the Mobil Pier at Eket is located inside the Kwa Ibo River and a shallow sand bar has to be negotiated to enter the river.
The crew consists of a European master and a European chief engineer, plus one Nigerian mate and five Nigerian seamen. A Swiss chief engineer is with the boats since delivery in Morgan City.
17.08.2005: Sold to Rangk Limited, Lagos. Not renamed, same flag, same charterer (Exxon-Mobil). Management: Rangk Ltd., Lagos.