Ramform Atlas Seismic Vessel Named in Japan Ceremony

Norwegian seismic survey firm Petroleum Geophysical Services ASA (PGS) named its second vessel in the Ramform Titan class Friday. The ship was named Ramform Atlas in a ceremony at the MHI Yard in Nagasaki, Japan.

PGS said the Ramform Titan-class is the most powerful and efficient marine seismic-acquisition vessel ever and the widest ship in the world at the waterline, with safety and productivity being the main focus points for the ship's design. Ramform Atlas is the second of four such vessels to be built in Japan. Her sister ship, the Ramform Titan, has been operating very successfully since its delivery in April 2013, PGS added.

The new vessel is designed to tow a network of several hundred thousand recording sensors over an area greater than 4.5 miles (around 3.5 times the size of Central Park in New York). PGS said the ship's broad stern is fully exploited with 24 streamer reels: 16 reels aligned abreast and eight reels further forward. 

The firm said the more rapid deployment and retrieval of equipment achieved by the new design, as well as its greater operational capacity, will translate into faster completion of surveys and increased uptime in marginal weather.

PGS CEO Jon Erik Reinhardsen commented in a company statement:

"The Ramform Atlas takes seismic acquisition to a new level. We have combined the most sophisticated technology in the business, with the most powerful and most efficient vessel in the industry. The second ship in the Ramform Titan class further strengthens our fleet and will give us a clear competitive edge for the next decade."