Polarcus orders X-BOW seismic vessels

News - May 29, 2008

Artist's concept showing a Polarcus SX124 seismic vessel.

A new company has been formed by some of the individuals involved in the formation of Eastern Echo, which ordered a number of X-BOW seismic ships from Dubai Drydocks and was subsequently acquired by Schlumberger.

Polarcus describes itself as "a pure play marine geophysical company with a pioneering environmental agenda, specializing in high-end towed streamer data acquisition from pole to pole."

Polarcus is launching a fleet of six advanced seismic vessels designed by Norway's Ulstein Design AS which also incorporate the innovative ULSTEIN X-BOW hull.

Four of these are innovative high end 3-D seismic vessels with a 12 streamer configuration and two are multipurpose seismic vessels with a 2-D/source configuration, which are also "future proofed" for six streamer operations.

Polarcus will operate worldwide providing high-end towed marine 3-D and 4-D contract acquisition services and multi client projects to the oil and gas industry. The company's vision is "to be a pioneer in an industry where the frontiers of seismic exploration are responsibly expanded without harm to our world."

Among other aims, the company aims to become what it called the "supplier of choice" for operations in the Polar regions.

The company's new vessels are being built in Dubai, UAE, by Drydocks World - Dubai LLC. The first 12-streamer 3-D vessel will be operational in the third quarter of 2009, with all six vessels fully operational within 2010.

Polarcus has employed a well-established management team mainly from within the seismic industry, with recent senior experience from Eastern Echo, PGS Geophysical, and Schlumberger WesternGeco.

The Board of Polarcus comprises:

- Carl-Gustav Zickerman (Zickerman Holdings Limited)
- Carl-Peter Zickerman (Zickerman Group Limited)
- Geoffrey Harold Taylor (Drydocks World LLC)
- Rosli Azad Khan (Drydocks World LLC).

The company's principal office is located in Dubai in the UAE.

Polarcus has signed design and equipment agreements with Ulstein Design AS and shipbuilding contracts with Drydocks World - Dubai for the first four vessels. Polarcus has also signed design and equipment agreements with Ulstein Design AS and secured vessel slots with Drydocks World - Dubai for vessels 5 and 6. Final agreements and shipbuilding contracts for these last two vessels are expected to be signed by the end of the second quarter of 2008.