Sovcomflot in 2-year charter for Vyacheslav Tikhonov seismic vessel

Moscow, June 11 - Neftegaz.RU. The Russian firm said in March it would redeliver the seismic vessel to Oslo-listed Polarcus by end of April,
earlier than originally planned, as the original charter had been expected to expire in October 2018.

Polarcus on June 10 said Sovcomflot has now withdrawn its notice of redelivery and exercised an option to extend the bareboat charter period of hire for 2 years (until October 2021, with further options).

Worth noting, Polarcus has recently found work for the vessel as part of a wide-azimuth project in the Americas. The Vyacheslav Tykhonov will be deployed as a source vessel on the wide-azimuth program expected to continue into 4Q 2019.

Upon the completion of the Americas assignment, the vessel will 1st complete this assignment before returning to work for Sovcomflot.

“Both parties have redelivery options during the extended hire period with SCF’s first redelivery option being exercisable with effect from completion of the ‘charter-back’ for the wide-azimuth program. Unless the vessel is redelivered at that time, the bareboat charter revenue generated by the Vessel is then expected to contribute to the company’s positive financial performance,” Polarcus said.

The Vyacheslav Tikhonov, originally named the Polarcus Selma, is a high ice class 8 streamer vessel suited to 3D XArray exploration requiring cable separations of 160 to 200m. It was built to the ULSTEIN SX133 design and incorporates the ULSTEIN X-BOW hull.

During a naming ceremony for the seismic vessel Vyacheslav Tikhonov in September 2011, in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi, Vladimir Putin assumed the role of Guardian to the vessel. He acted as the prime minister at the time.