Blue Ocean successfully conducts round of sea trials with seismic data acquisition technology

Blue Ocean Seismic Services, the marine seismic survey disruptor, has successfully completed a series of passive and active seismic trials proving the quality of seismic data collection, putting the company on track to commence pre-commercial trials during the second half of 2023.

“The successful results of the various pre-commercialisation trials over recent months are the culmination of a huge amount of work by the Blue Ocean Seismic Services team and represent a massive leap forward on our path to full commercialisation,” Simon Illingworth, managing director and CEO, Blue Ocean Seismic Services said. “Substantial investment is also being made in securing components for our initial inventory of pre-commercial vehicles.”

Backed by industry leaders bp Ventures, Woodside Energy and Blue Ocean Monitoring, the UK/Australian tech company Blue Ocean Seismic Services is developing the world’s first fleet of autonomous low-impact subsea nodes for capturing high-quality seismic data from the ocean floor for multiple applications such as offshore wind, oil and gas, and CCS. These underwater vehicles will transform the offshore seismic sector to become more affordable, faster, safer, more environmentally friendly and significantly less carbon intensive.

Since its last update the company has undertaken substantial further testing in Plymouth, the North Sea and Australia towards confirming the effectiveness of command-and-control systems, underwater flight performance, seismic coupling and active seismic data acquisition.

Focusing on the recent North Sea active seismic trial, the company achieved its technology and data collection objectives, including acquiring additional cycles of active seismic data with its alpha vehicles (AP-OBSrV) alongside conventional ocean-bottom nodes (OBNs); testing engineering solutions for optimizations identified in the previous (August 2021) trials; and confirming the ability of the AP-OBSrV to maintain a close seismic coupling with the seabed, especially where cross currents exist.

These objectives were all achieved in the active seismic survey, in particular confirming that the geophysical performance is on track. With this confirmation, the company will continue its rapid progression towards the commencement of commercial operations in 2024, starting with the assembly of up to 250 OBSrV version 1 nodes (based on the AP-OBSrV design) in batches, with pre-commercial trials in H2 2023.

Before commencing pre-commercial trials in H2 2023, the company is progressing discussions with industry partners regarding their strong interest in our services and pre-qualifying for future tender opportunities.  In addition, following substantial interest from potential customers, the company also plans to open a new office in Houston, Texas, in Q1 2023, in line with its strategy to establish a presence in key markets.