Norwegian surveyor Argeo has signed a contract with an undisclosed client for ultra-deepwater work in the North Atlantic. The deal involves the recently-chartered 2001-built subsea vessel Argeo Searcher and two SeaRaptor AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles).
The project will start after the vessel, formerly known as Ocean Pearl, completes its conversion in January next year and will last for about three to four weeks. The company said the project has “good possibility” for extension further into the first quarter of 2023.
Trond Crantz chief executive of Argeo, stated: “This project requires the highest quality and detail and the requirement of ultra-deepwater vehicles to get the job done and will take the SeaRaptor near to the very limits of its build specification and make use of all the high-quality sensors integrated into the vehicle.”
Argeo currently has four AUVs in addition to the vessel, which is on a five-year bareboat contract with a purchase option attached. OSM Offshore has managed the ship since 2006, the same year when it was converted to an OBN (ocean bottom node) seismic vessel.
