Insight article
SW Tasman: the future of seismic
22 Aug 2024
Following a significant upgrade and long-term investments deployed towards the growing ocean bottom node (OBN) market, the SW Tasman returned to the seas in September 2023 and has already entered commercial operations. Repurposed and upgraded to take a leading role in the OBN market, it’s the first vessel to be equipped with both dual remote operated vehicles (ROV), Pearl ocean bottom nodes, and seismic source capabilities.Shearwater repurposed the vessel with a focus on improved efficiency, safety, fuel consumption and to gain higher quality marine seismic survey results. Experience gained in key deep water geophysical basins such as the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil was the driving force shaping Shearwater’s focus.
These are locations where environmental conditions and valuable operational windows must be used to maximum potential to lower the cost of ownership of OBN seismic data to our clients. The management of all such risk in the value chain through optimised platform design and limited sub-contracting, enables Shearwater to unlock efficiencies through the entire operational cycle of a typical OBN survey.
Add to that, the energy industry’s growing desire to discover more of what lies below the ocean floor as OBN adoption picks up pace, and we had a challenge to relish…
Unique solution
What if one vessel could do the job of several vessels, giving our clients a faster, more efficient operation and survey, with a lower carbon footprint?
What if one vessel could be fitted with a bespoke vehicle solution to safely open up operational windows, increasing use in tough operating conditions, while improving safety standards and risk management?
The SW Tasman is the unique result of decades of sub-sea operational experience and the knowledge of our experts including our offshore crews. The vessel is the world’s first commercial multi-technology geophysical, dual remotely operated vehicle (ROV), seismic multipurpose vessel, with ocean bottom nodes receivers and source.
Antonio Stempel, SVP Marine Acquisition said: “Combining multiple capabilities into one vessel speeds up operations and enables more flexible, hybrid surveys to take place.
Faster and better
Coupled with our innovative technologies, engineering and software, the SW Tasman can deploy compact, lightweight, and long battery life ocean bottom nodes, Pearl, in both deep and shallow water, much faster and safely, in wider weather windows.
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We have an unrivalled combination of two permanently installed ROVs with bespoke launch and recovery systems on one vessel for node deployment and recovery, with dual source capability, and a multidisciplinary crew. All are integrated and operating from one instrument room, and delivering the highest quality results and efficient seabed surveys.
We have an unrivalled combination of two permanently installed ROVs with bespoke launch and recovery systems on one vessel for node deployment and recovery, with dual source capability, and a multidisciplinary crew. All are integrated and operating from one instrument room, and delivering the highest quality results and efficient seabed surveys.
Should the survey design require additional dedicated source vessels, then Shearwater’s large fleet and global footprint provides the ability to deliver availability of a suitable vessel in one holistic service offering where important parameters such as source matching and advanced source configurations can be centrally managed.
Antonio added: "Having our own dual ROV vessel will support improved risk management and operational performance, and in a market with potential capacity constraints, it enables us to offer robust solutions to our clients using our own assets, with firm timing and availability."
As the SW Tasman is owned, operated and fully managed by Shearwater, we can increase efficiency in your projects, remove risk-related “padding” in longer sub-contractor supply chains, and test operational envelopes outside of the commercial constraints which often hinder development.
And our experienced crews have a safe and comfortable purpose-built environment to achieve our clients’ survey goals.
As leaders in the marine seismic field, our constant focus is to remain one step ahead. We’re always pushing further and faster to bring innovative technologies to market safely, achieve better quality marine data acquisition surveys and solve complex seismic problems.
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