Shearwater to Introduce Deepwater Dual-ROV OBN Deployment Vessel

Marine seismic survey services specialist Shearwater GeoServices is set to introduce its first dual ROV seismic vessel, which the company says will be equipped with a broad scope of operational capabilities. 

"Designed to deploy ocean bottom nodes in both deep and shallow water, the vessel will also be able to provide high-quality source for surveys and conduct towed streamer surveys," Shearwater said.

The dual ROV vessel, under Shearwater ownership and management, is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2023 following a conversion of the SW Tasman multipurpose vessel. Shearwater said the rationale for such conversion was a significant increase in demand for ocean bottom seismic. 

Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater, said: "In short, this is the world’s first commercial multi-technology geophysical ROV vessel with source and towed streamer capability, and able to perform ocean bottom ROV surveys as a single unit. Having our own dual ROV vessel will support improved risk management and  operational performance, and in a market with capacity constraints, it enables us to offer robust solutions to our clients using our own  assets.”

 Ulstein Design & Solutions AS, the original vessel designers, will provide conversion engineering,  with Evotec providing launch and recovery solutions and ROVOP providing dual work ROVs with associated ROV personnel.