An odd vessel tied up at Pier 9 recently. Layla is a small cargo ship and features two 3mt derricks. the ship also looks to have a cable handling roller on the bow.

Layla is one of three ships belonging to South African firm Mertech Marine, which specializes in recovering and recycling sub sea cable. Founded in 1998, Mertech claims to have recover 75,000km of disused subsea cable.

Layla was built in 1975 in the Netherlands, and was rebuilt in 2008. The ship is 65m long, and is powered by a Caterpillar 3512 engine producing 749KW of power.

The Cable Ship Ile D’aix has been tied up at International Telecoms base at Pier 9 for the past week. the French vessel is operated by ASN, or Alcatel Submarine Networks. Its purpose built for cable maintenance and repair, and is based at ASN’s facility in Calais. the ship arrived from St. John’s Nfld.

The C/S Durable joined the vessels at Pier 9. A purpose built cable ship, she was constructed in 2002 as Tyco Durable. She is still owned by Tyco Global Networks, and is based out of Baltimore.

Siem Dorado is tied up at Pier 9. the Offshore construction vessel is at the cable terminal, and looks to be outfitting for a cable job. You can see the stern has added cable handling equipment.

There is no active coasting trade application open, so the job is not likely in Canadian Waters.

Siem is the Parent of Dartmouth based Secunda Marine.