Page 56: of Marine Technology Magazine (October 2015)

ROV & AUV Report: Norway (Photo: William Stoichevski)

Survey Savvy: Sanco COO Rudy Amundsen.

the ice-class tanker Sanko Sky chases vessels that pull long ernGeco’s is understsood to have sailed from new-build quay nine-kilometer, 15-cable streamers. All seven Sanco vessels to cold-stack. Polarcus, once a market darling, runs its own are built here in Sunnmore, including the 4D-capable Sanco vessels but owes nearly USD800 million, although new Sep-

Star (now with OceanGeo) and the Sanco Swift and Sanco tember geophysics sales ought to help.

Sword with Dolphin Geophysical offshore Australia.

Sanco is fresh from the record-setting 125--sq.-km. shoot The Good News offshore Myanmar for Shell Myanmar, where the Sanco Dolphin, now equipping its new-builds, plies Russia’s Kara

Sword spread its 12 streamers to a “record” (per-kilometer) Sea with Sanco, although U.S. companies are still active there, day rate and spread of 12 sq. km. so sanctions have yet to fully disrupt global marine deal-mak-

Now, with a 50 percent cut in seismic budgets being felt the ing. The good news comes from Sanco client PGS and the world over, Sanco is looking to the past ? sherman’s strategy chance several of its vessels will soon ? nd employment off of retooling. At Las Palmas in the Canary Islands — a base Newfoundland, Canada — toward which the Sanco Spirit was being revitalized by others, including Rolls-Royce — Sanco last known to be steaming — and on the Mexican side of the is ? tting seabed seismic equipment but faces delays ahead of Gulf of Mexico. The ? nal stages of pre-funding for multi- a planned shoot in January 2016 with Houston-based Ocean- client promises an opportunity to sell results for a company

Geo. with three cold-stacked Ramform survey vessels. “Fifty-per- cent prefunding is good enough for most,” says Amundsen on

The Bad News when a multi-client survey operations begin to look pro? table.

Exacerbating today’s dearth of surveys, there’s a persistent In a note to shareholders PGS says things ought to start oversupply of vessels and ? erce competition for the few going looking better for seismic in 2016.

tenders. About 40 high-end, 3D seismic vessels will be out of work by year-end 2016, says Amundsen. DOF, Statoil ID ROV Value “The good-times contracts are expiring, and within the year As DOF Subsea — with its 71 OSVs and 11 ROV types — for most,” he warns. In that time, there’ll be two massive PGS announces $350 million in Canadian, Australasian and Gulf vessels delivered from Japan. “It’s just not a good market of Mexico contracts for inspection, maintenance and repair, now,” and not helped, he says, by elections in formerly active or IMR, it’s clear, here, that the mini submersibles from rival

Nigeria, where contract delays are now the norm, or sanctions Bergen were key.

that have hurt Russian exploration. Worse, a project of West- The IMR work is unavoidable for oil companies, and the

October 2015

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