Sovcomflot to return seismic vessel to Polarcus in November

Russia’s Sovcomflot will redeliver the Vyacheslav Tikhonov vessel to seismic player Polarcus in November 2019.

Polarcus said on Tuesday that the vessel would be redelivered following completion of a wide-azimuth project in the Americas.

The company added it was in discussions with a number of potential projects with customers and would explore opportunities for the vessel after redelivery.

The Vyacheslav Tikhonov, originally named Polarcus Selma, has been on a long-term charter with Sovcomflot since delivery from the yard in 2011, with an extension signed in 2015. The charter was set to expire in October 2019.

The Russian firm said in March it would redeliver the seismic vessel by the end of April, earlier than originally planned, but later opted to extend the bareboat charter period of hire for two years – until October 2021, with further extension options.

It is worth noting that both parties had redelivery options during the extended hire period. SCF’s first redelivery option, which the company has now decided to use, was exercisable following the completion of the wide-azimuth program.

The Vyacheslav Tikhonov is a high ice class 8 streamer vessel suited to 3D XArray exploration requiring cable separations of 160 to 200m. It was built to the Ulstein SX133 design and incorporated the Ulstein X-Bow hull.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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