NAGASAKI, Japan -- The third of four Ramform Titan-class vessels, the Ramform Tethys, was celebrated in a naming ceremony at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding Co. yard in Nagasaki, Japan, on Thursday.

Ramform Tethys. Image: PGS.

PGS' two existing Ramform Titan-class vessels, the Ramform Titan and the Ramform Atlas were delivered in 2013 and 2014. However, according to PGS, the Ramform Tethys, and the Ramform Hyperion, will be even better due to small equipment handling modifications on the back deck and an increase in engine power. 

"With the increased power output and the back deck modifications, we are enhancing the Ramform Titan-class acquisition platform further," said Per Arild Reksnes, executive V.P. of operations at PGS. 

The Ramform Tethys is the most powerful and efficient marine seismic acquisition vessel in the world, and along with the Ramform Titan and Ramform Atlas, the widest ships ever at the waterline.

The design dovetails advanced maritime technology to the imaging capabilities of the GeoStreamer seismic acquisition technology. The vessels 70 m broad stern is fully exploited with 24 streamer reels: 16 reels aligned abreast and 8 reels further forward, with capacity for 12 km streamers on each reel. With such capabilities the Ramform Tethys has tremendous flexibility and redundancy for high capacity configurations.

The vessel carries over 6,000 tons of fuel and equipment. She will typically tow a network of several hundred thousand recording sensors over an area greater than 12 km2.

"The Ramform Tethys further strengthens our fleet productivity and together with the other Ramform Titan-class vessels will enhance our competitive edge," Jon Erik Reinhardsen, president and CEO of PGS, said. "In the current challenging market environment we also experience more demand for our best capacity and Ramform Tethys will add to PGS ultra-high-end value proposition."