Seismic Towing Record Set by Geco-Prakla Vessel

The Schlumberger Geco-Prakla seismic acquisition vessel Geco Orion is reportedly the first seismic vessel in the industry to tow a 1,000-meter spread unassisted. The spread was accomplished by deploying six 8000-meter streamers, each 200 meters apart, and resulted in a vessel footprint of eight sq km—the largest ever achieved. (The footprint is essentially the area covered by a single shot point as the vessel acquires seismic data.)

The Geco Orion was operating in the US Gulf of Mexico when it achieved this record. Outfitted with what Geco-Prakla terms an Mk 2 Monowing deflector system, which is credited with facilitating the wide streamer separation, the vessel had only recently been upgraded from an Mk 1 Monowing system as part of Geco-Prakla's refitting program for all its large 3D vessels.