Shearwater bucks the asset-light trend with recent vessel splurge

Shearwater GeoServices caused a stir in April with the purchase of six seismic vessels from one-time rival Polarcus.

But the young company was on the vessel acquisition trail well before that news-making transaction.

In 2018, just two years after it was founded, Shearwater bought the WesternGeco fleet after parent company Schlumberger decided to exit the vessel-owning and operating market.

That netted Shearwater 10 high-end seismic acquisition vessels, including seven 3D vessels and three multi-purpose vessels configured to serve the growing ocean-bottom seismic (OBS) market, 12 complete streamer sets with spares, as well as two source vessels.