SMNG owns a specialized fleet, which includes four deepwater seismic vessels - M/V Akademik Nemchinov capable of 3D seismic operations, M/V Akademik Shatsky, M/V Akademik Lazarev, and M/VGeo Arctic capable of 2D operations.
SMNG has many years of experience providing a full range of services for 2D and 3D marine seismic acquisitions, including operations in deep and shallow waters of the World Ocean, as well as in transition zones. The operations are performed in different climatic and geographical conditions.
The marine operation department of SMNG provides our clients survey design and exercises operating management for all phases of a marine seismic program.
SMNG was generally recognized on the Russian and Western markets due to high productivity and high quality in the performance of 2D/3D seismic acquisitions.
Starting from the mid 90-s SMNG has invested heavily in modernizing and upgrading its fleet. Maintaining seismic vessels and navigating-geophysical systems in good technical conditions in accordance with the Shipping Register of the Russian Federation, international conventions and standards of marine geophysics is one of the main objectives of the company.
From September 2011 SMNG operates a 3D/4D seismic vessel Vyacheslav Tikhonov under a contract with Sovcomflot. M/V Vyacheslav Tikhonov was built in 2011 in Drydock World Dubai yard and was departed completely equipped with up-to-date seismic equipment necessary to conduct 3D surveys in August.
M/V Vyacheslav Tikhonov is a high-technology 3D ice-class seismic vessel of the ULSTEIN SX133 X-BOW design, the resent one from six vessels of this class existing in the world. Length overall of a vessel is 84.2 m and a breadth is 17 m; maximum vessel speed is 17 knots. M/V Vyacheslav Tikhonov is capable of deploying up to 8 streamers each of 6,000m length, or 6 streamers each of 8,000m length, with lateral streamer separations of between 25 and 200 meters. The vessel is also amongst the most environmentally sound seismic vessel in the world market. Special form of the hull, fore and aft end, optimized parameters of diesel-electric installation and propulsive unit, technical solutions enabling to perform continuous operation under low temperatures, enforced ice class and highly reliable standard are distinctive features of the vessel.
Currently M/V Vyacheslav Tikhonov acquires 3D survey total volume 4,800 sq km within the Tuapse Trough License Block in the Black Sea in the interests of Rosneft and ExxonMobil.
Seismic system Seal by Sercel and integrated navigation system Spectra by Concept System Ltd were installed on four SMNG deep water vessels.
M/V Akademik Nemchinov has undergone essential technical re-equipment. After an upgrade the vessel’s seismic equipment consists of a Seal Digital System 24 bit and the Seal Fluid digital streamers (4 x 6,000m) by Sercel.
M/V Akademik Nemchinov over 2004-2010 has acquired 3D surveys in the Russian Arctic Seas for Russian companies Gazflot, Arktikshelfneftegaz, Severneftegaz, in the North Sea under agreement with Wavefield, in the South-East Asia and on the Shelf of Venezuela for subsidiaries of Gazprom, in the Black Sea for Rosneft and Naftagaz of Ukraine. The total volume only of 3D operations was more than 11,000 sq km. In 2011 M/V Akademik Nemchinov performed 3D survey in the Black Sea for Naftagaz of Ukraine. Currently the vessel operates in the Caspian Sea.
New equipment installed on the M/V Akademik Shatsky, and M/V Akademik Lazarev allows calling these vessels Hi-End, which in modern terminology implies the maximum technical capacity to 2D acquisitions with the 12 km streamer and the volume source of more than 4,000 cu in. The vessels have successfully acquired seismic surveys on the offshore of the worldwide. In 2011, the vessels carried out 2D surveys in the North Sea for Fugro.
In 2011 M/V Geo Arctic was acquired about 7,000 km of seismic lines in the East Siberian Sea.
The M/V Professor Ryabinkin is a shallow water vessel (draft - 2.4 m). The vessel operates both in deep and shallow water. Her design/operational specifications and mobility make her quite unique. She is capable of arriving in Azov, Black and Caspian Seas, Barents, Pechora and Kara Seas and also Baltic Sea 1 – 2 weeks via internal navigable routes in the European Russia. After two years of operations in the Persian Gulf, in 2008 Professor Rjabinkin successfully carried out 2D surveys in the Caspian Sea of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan Shelf. In 2011 the M/V Professor Ryabinkin operated as shooting vessel in the Kara Sea.
Another shallow water vessel, Catamaran Iskatel-5, after two years of lay up associated with the lack of equipment was put into operation. Large repairs have been carried out, a new high-pressure compressor has installed. In 2007, after the fulfillment of 2D acquisition with floating-streamer in the transition zone, the vessel together with the onshore party completed the first grid lines onshore-offshore on the Varandey-Medyn area (Pechora Sea, Russia). Currently, in connection with an activity in the South-East Asia the vessel has been deployed to Singapore and operates in deep and shallow water areas.
Onboard all the vessels acquired seismic data is then QC-ed and processed on SGI Origin 2000, IBM RISC 6000, Sun ULTRA and Sun SPARC workstations running ProMax 2D/3D software.
Over the past five years, SMNG has acquired 350,000 km of 2D data and more than 11,000 sq km of 3D data in Russian Seas and worldwide.