Four contractors have submitted proposals to state-owned Petrobangla to supply a vessel for 2D seismic acquisition in the Bay of Bengal off Bangladesh, writes Amanda Battersby.

The government on 6 October formally received requests for proposals from UK-based WesternGeco, UAE-headquartered Polarcus plus Norway’s PGS and Volstad Maritime.

Petrobangla is seeking a multi-role, highly advanced survey vessel also suited to carrying out geotechnical, oceanographic, geophysical and hydrographic surveys from coastal bay and estuaries to and beyond the Bay of Bengal’s continental shelf.

The move to charter a survey vessel came after Petrobangla for several years had unsuccessfully tried to appoint a contractor to acquire multi-client seismic in its territorial waters. The Dhaka administration has high hopes of discovering giant offshore gas structures as in neighbouring Myanmar to the south.

“We need to do our own survey. We should not depend on others’ surveys to determine if we have gas resources or not,” a government official said.

Petrobangla is in the market for either a newbuild or a vessel no more than five years old with the aim of starting seismic acquisition as early as after next year’s monsoon season.

The tender documentation stipulates that vessels must be available within 12 months if a newbuild or 10 months if already in operation.

The seismic survey vessel will be acquired under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act 2010 that Bangladesh is increasingly using, a mechanism that allows for faster and less bureaucratic tenders.

A total of 23 players had initially expressed interest, according to the Dhaka Tribune. Five short-listed players were then invited to submit bids but one unknown contractor had not responded by Wednesday’s deadline.

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