BOURBON and CGG, partners in innovation announces the first series of seismic support vessels has already achieved success Friday, Nov 22, 2013 Equipped with hybrid propulsion, the Bourbon Petrel and the Bourbon Fulmar are now operating in the Black Sea and Northern Europe.
In 2011, BOURBON entered a 5-year charter agreement with CGG for a series of 6 new seismic support vessels, an industry first. Two years later, the Bourbon Petrel and the Bourbon Fulmar are already in service, and a third vessel, the Bourbon Gannet, will also be operational in the near future. The Grandweld Shipyard in Dubai is building the vessels and delivery of the remaining sister ships is scheduled for 2014.
Customized solutions to meet CGG's specific operational requirements
These custom-built vessels were designed to provide fuel, equipment and crew supply to the CGG seismic vessels, in addition to ensuring operational safety. With environmental protection and cost optimization being of paramount importance, the series was fitted with a hybrid propulsion system, in order to provide optimized fuel consumption: diesel-electric is preferred for escort operations while mechanical propulsion is used in transit and during operations, so as to have maximum power available.
The Bourbon Petrel has been supporting the CGG Symphony seismic vessel in the Black Sea since July 2013. The seismic support vessel has carried out many refueling operations, including inline bunkering, in addition to towing exercises and operations and crew rotation operations. The Bourbon Fulmar is currently assisting the Viking Vanquish, a seismic vessel operating in Northern Europe.
"The success of these first seismic support vessels attests to BOURBON's capacity to assist clients on demanding projects by providing them with quality services in constantly evolving environments and markets. The partnership with CGG is entirely consistent with BOURBON's development strategy, based on a modern, standardized, high-performance fleet and perfectly trained crews, in accordance with our operational excellence goal", explains Rodolphe Bouchet, Vice President Business Management – Marine Services, BOURBON.
"Along with our efforts to streamline our fleet of seismic vessels and reduce the number of shipmanagers, CGG has launched a dedicated program for its chartered fleet of support vessels. The series of six specially designed vessels under a long-term charter agreement with BOURBON is the first of its kind for our industry. Given the successful operations already carried out by the Bourbon Petrel and the Bourbon Fulmar, we feel confident about having made the right choice of partner and customized support vessel design for our seismic operations. We selected BOURBON for their experience in vessel series management, and for their capacity to optimize their availability, and deliver their high operating standards", explains Yves Rastoin, Maritime Director, CGG.
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