The Seismic Pioneer

For three decades, seismic has been a major part of Eidesvik Offshore’s backbone. During this period, our employees and ships have pioneered new technology, become the largest supplier of advanced vessels to the world’s leading geophysical company, and not least secured many safe missions at sea through able seafaring.

Eidesvik’s seismic history started as early as 1977, with simple seismic and survey work for Geoteam in the North Sea. When news of the revolutionary 3D seismic technology spread in the fall of 1990, Eidesvik acted quickly – and in June 1991 the converted trawler MS “Geo Explorer” was put into operation for PGS as the world’s first 3D seismic ship.

As the market gained momentum in the 1990s, we had the experience and knowledge to increase our seismic efforts. The company connected with the US-Canadian seismic company Veritas DGC, which was looking for a partner with modern ships and high-quality maritime operations. In May 1997, Eidesvik and Veritas DGC signed the contract on MS “Veritas Viking” – our very first seismic new build.

The collaboration with Veritas DGC became long and rewarding and continued with the French company CGG when it merged with Veritas DGC in 2007 and took the name CGGVeritas. To meet the needs of this world-leading seismic giant, our fleet of modern seismic vessels was steadily expanded over the following years.

In 2011, the collaboration with CGG was further strengthened through the establishment of CGG Eidesvik Ship Management in Bergen. This joint venture was responsible for 10 seismic vessels – seven of these from Eidesvik and three from other shipping companies. The collaboration continued for nine years until Eidesvik sold its share of the company in 2020 and ownership of seven vessels was included in Shearwater – where Eidesvik has become a minority shareholder.

Although the majority of the company’s seismic fleet has been disposed of, this does not mean that a long and proud tradition has been broken. In our crews at sea and land, we still have the expertise and experience. Today this know-how is used, among other things, for ocean bottom seismic (OBS) – a market in clear growth. We see node technology and ocean bottom seismic as an exciting development from the traditional streamer seismic and follow developments in this segment closely considering further efforts.