DNV rides seismic wave

The booming global economy and high oil price have led to strong demand for seismographic ship and DNV is experiencing a tenfold increase in classification requests compared to previous years for this ship type. While the newbuilding activity for these vessels was nearly non-existent a couple of years ago, the demand is now very strong. At present, there are 20 seismographic research ships under construction awaiting DNV classification. In 2004, there was only one.

A huge problem facing the exploration companies is the shipyards? limited newbuilding capacity. To work around this, other types of vessels with high tractive power are being converted into seismographic vessels. While this method is not necessarily less expensive, it enables the vessel to be operative in a considerably shorter time. In 2006, ten ships were converted into seismographic vessels and classified by DNV, compared to zero in 2004. Most of the ships were originally cable layers. This year, five conversion projects have been completed and classified by DNV. Another eight vessels are under conversion and awaiting final classification shortly. “It is paramount for the ship owners to obtain the seismographic vessels quickly in order to benefit from the high demand from the oil companies,” says Head of Conversions in DNV Maritime Arild Rogne. “Even though rates are currently high, it is hard to predict the market trend and future developments. Thus, newbuildings are a more risky strategy than conversions.”