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Shearwater to add five more vessels through CGG partnership

Geoservices companies Shearwater GeoServices and CGG has signed a binding term-sheet for a strategic partnership for marine seismic acquisition services and creation of a new streamer technology company.

The term-sheet covers Shearwater’s acquisition of five high-end streamer vessels jointly owned by CGG Marine Resources Norge and Eidesvik Offshore, with mutual commitments of securing CGG access to strategic vessel capacity for future multiclient projects.

Additionally, the term-sheet covers the creation of a technology partnership, under the Sercel brand name and CGG’s majority ownership, for the development, manufacturing, commercialisation and support of marine streamer seismic acquisition systems.

The term-sheet includes agreements for a five-year utilisation commitment for an annual minimum of two vessel-years over the period. The agreement for vessel capacity will ensure CGG access to strategic capacity for its future multiclient projects through Shearwater’s global fleet. Following the transaction Shearwater will have a fleet of 23 vessels.

“We are very pleased to see Shearwater execute on its strategy as an industry-leading, full service marine geophysical company with a solid financial and strategic platform. The transaction will provide additional scale and critical mass to support Shearwater’s global operations and continued investment in technology development to deliver the highest possible data quality to its customers,” said Einar Ytredal, CEO of GC Rieber Shipping.

The two companies intend to execute final transaction agreements before the end of June with closing planned before year-end.

In the meantime, Shearwater has been awarded by TGS a 3D multiclient project in the Norwegian Sea. The project will be executed by the Polar Duchess and start in the summer this year with an approximate duration of 3.5 months.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.
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