Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review
    Vol. 50 No. 2 (2013)   Shipbuilding and Ocean Development
    New Products

    Building the 5th Generation Ramform Titan-class Seismic Vessel

    Shipbuilding & Ocean Development
    Ship & Ocean Engineering Division
    Nagasaki Ship & Ocean Engineering Department

    Global primary energy demand has been increasing year by year, and exploration markets of main energy sources (oil and natural gas) continue to expand. Petroleum Geo‐Services ASA (PGS), which is a major natural resource survey company in Norway specializing in offshore oil and gas fields, have developed and built uniquely‐shaped seismic vessels called Ramform in Europe, and has operated the fleet to gather geological data correctly and efficiently. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. had received an order to build 2 Ramform vessels from PGS and has recently delivered the first vessel, which will form the state‐of‐the‐art 5th generation Ramform Titan‐class fleet. This report outlines these vessels.