New Seismic Support Vessels a Big Success for BOURBON

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.

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 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”, 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”, explains Yves Rastoin, Maritime Director, CGG.

The Grandweld Shipyard in Dubai is building the vessels and delivery of the remaining sister ships is scheduled for 2014.

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Press Release, November 21, 2013