Shearwater GeoServices Holding AS states today in a press release that the company “completed the strategic vessel transaction with CGG, including the takeover of five high-end seismic vessels, and the five-year capacity agreement for marine seismic acquisition services between Shearwater and CGG became effective. Preparations for the joint creation of a new streamer technology company continues with expected completion in the first half of 2020.”
This means that CGG completes its exit from marine acquisition, a business they have been a part of for many years. 4 of the world’s larger 4 marine seismic acquisition services are Norwegian: Shearwater, PGS, Polarcus and SeaBird.
Shearwater holds about 600 employees, CGG is now 4600 employees. CGG’s story with geophysics is long, the first dual vessel marine seismic was undertaken already in 1958, the company was founded already in 1931 as Compagnie Générale de Géophysique. In 2018 CGG announced that it would get rid of its vessels.
The Shearwater press release continues:
“The transaction includes the five streamer vessels, and two legacy vessels, previously owned by CGG Marine Resources Norge AS and Eidesvik Offshore ASA, five complete streamer sets previously owned by CGG and a long-term capacity agreement granting Shearwater a guaranteed cash flow and activity level for a period of five years.
The capacity agreement includes a minimum commitment of two vessel-years annually over the agreed five-year period which yields an attractive cash flow and activity level for Shearwater and ensures CGG access to strategic capacity for its future multiclient projects through Shearwater’s global fleet of high-end 3D vessels.
“We aim to be the preferred long-term industrial partner to our customers worldwide“ said Irene Waage Basili, the CEO of Shearwater. “This transaction signals the start of a strategic partnership with CGG both on acquisition and streamer technologies. For Shearwater, the guaranteed cash flow and activity level from the capacity agreement give vastly improved visibility and debt management capabilities in a market historically known for its spot nature” said Basili.
This transaction is a pure asset transfer and Shearwater has at closing assumed the net liabilities associated with the vessels taken over. Following the transaction, Shearwater has a fleet of 23 vessels, including three OBS MPVs and two dedicated source vessels.
Preparations continue for the creation of the joint technology partnership for the respective marine streamer seismic acquisition systems. The completion of this transaction is subject to approvals by the competent authorities and other customary conditions.
“We see great value for the industry in creating a highly competitive provider of state-of-the-art and competitively priced streamer technology. The purpose of the JV is to develop best of breed technologies under the Sercel brand name, capitalising on their long history of delivering leading technologies to the entire seismic acquisition market” said Irene Waage Basili.”
Text: TERJE SOLBAKK
