Page 11: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2006)

www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 11

By Larry Pearson

Global Geophysical Services, Inc., of

Houston, Texas — incorporated in 2003 specifically for geophysical work — earli- er this summer received a 70 x 22-ft. (21.3 x 6.7 m) catamaran-style new seis- mic vessel from Geo Shipyard, New

Iberia, La. "In the past, we specialized in seismic boats and our company name is derived from our concentration on geo- physical vessels," said David LeCompte, president of the company.

The vessel is equipped with a pair of large compressors enabling it to operate air guns that gather seismic data from the

Gulf of Mexico. "This source vessel is unique in that it has a lot of source energy, backed by large compressors all packaged on a shallow draft catamaran-style vessel," said

Richard Degner, president and CEO of

Global Geophysical.

The driving force behind the develop- ment of this vessel is the lure of finding large deposits of gas in shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico. "The great success many companies are experiencing in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico has led to searching for large gas deposits in shal- low water but at much greater depths in the earth," Degner said. "Years ago exploration leases were down to 15,000 ft., but now there is a lot of activity in leases permitting drilling to 30,000 ft. and that has the potential of revitalizing the shallow water Gulf of

Mexico market," Degner said. "To drill to those depths, companies need very high resolution data and larger source energy so that signal to noise ratios and wave reflections at these great depths are still adequate to provide quality seis- mic data," Degner added. "Technology has significantly reduced the cost of obtaining seismic data,"

Degner said. "The electronics have become much more reliable, more com-

GEO Delivers Seismic Vessel vessels

Visit www.maritimeequipment.com/mt & Click No. 202

One of the two identical air compressors before being installed on the James H. Scott.

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