Nautilus vessel construction surpasses 75%

Nautilus Minerals Inc. (TSX:NUS, OTC:NUSMF Nasdaq Intl Designation) (the "Company" or "Nautilus") is pleased to provide an update on the status of construction of its Production Support Vessel and associated equipment, to be used by Nautilus and its partner, Eda Kopa (Solwara) Limited at the Solwara 1 Project site, in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea.

Mike Johnston, Nautilus’ CEO commented: “Mawei Shipyard continues to make excellent progress on the Production Support Vessel, as detailed in the notes below. Highlights for this period include installation of the in-hold material handling system allowing closing of the vessel deck, installation of the derrick substructures and advancement of the derrick structure. We will provide further updates over the coming months.”

Status

Mawei Shipyard reports that the build of the Production Support Vessel has now surpassed 75%.

The in-hold cargo handling systems have all been fabricated, assembled and installed in the four holds of the vessel. This has allowed for the installation of deck blocks and close out of the deck of the vessel in preparation for the derrick installation.

The Sichuan Honghua Petroleum Equipment Co. has made good progress with the fabrication of the derrick and associated substructure. This equipment is required for the deployment of the Subsea Slurry Lift Pump and riser. The derrick substructure has now been installed. The derrick tower has been fully assembled at the yard with installation to occur on the vessel after Chinese New Year. The riser storage and handling system is due to be delivered to the yard towards the end of February, for assembly and subsequent installation in March 2018.

Progress continues on marine systems with all the ship’s engines run and load tested in December. The installation of electrical equipment and transformers for the Seafloor Production Tools is ongoing. The 200T and 100T ship’s cranes have now been installed on the deck, along with one of the Seafloor Production Tools’ maintenance cranes.



Location: China