Below is our June update on TDI-Brooks’ activities focusing on vessel deployments/availability for GoM/Mexico, Northern South America (NSA) / Caribbean / Brazil and NW/W Africa regions. Our activities focus on geochemical seep-hunting programs, geophysical and geotechnical coring programs, environmental baseline surveys (EBS),, metocean, pipeline & cable route programs, wind farm and vessel charter projects. Our last similar update was Jan-19.
A quick synopsis follows:
R/V BROOKS McCALL (BMCC) is available for projects in the Gulf of Mexico or the US East Coast starting in August.
R/V GYRE is working off NW Africa on a TGS multiclient MBES/seep hunting project until early late August/early September. It is currently available for other projects in Africa in the late 3rd/4th Qtrs.
R/V PROTEUS is currently working in Brazil conducting geotechnical and seep-hunting projects. It is available for projects in Brazil for the August timeframe and in the Caribbean/NSA and/or possibly W Africa in Q4. It has an EBS award in Fr. Guiana after completion of projects in Brazil and other projects ‘in play’ in the NSA region.
In Mexico TDI-Brooks plans to remobilize a vessel for additional geotechnical coring/CPT, survey and EBS project late summer. In late fall, TDI-Brooks will have its ‘heavy’ coring/CPT kit on an Oceaneering vessel for a large geotechnical project in the Mexican Perdido area.
Internationally elsewhere, other 3rd Party vessel EBS and seep hunting projects are likely in play for 4Q in Indonesia and East Africa.
R/V BROOKS McCALL (BMCC) – Gulf of Mexico / US East Coast
The BMCC remains operational in the Gulf of Mexico and available for spot charters in the US GoM/East Coast/Caribbean out of its homeport of Freeport, TX.
Since the last report, the BMCC has conducted several industry and academic projects in the GOM including:
- In January, GX Technology (ION) chartered the vessel for a seismic testing program for most of the month;
- In February TDI-Brooks conducted geotechnical programs for LLOG and Pinnacle at the King’s Quay, Nearly Headless Nick and Stonefly developments;
- Between 5-18 March, TDI-Brooks conducted a two week long geochemical coring cruise for TGS’s OTOS US Gulf seep hunting program;
- In late March to early May T.Baker Smith chartered the BMCC for about 6-weeks for seismic testing;
- In late May, TDI-Brooks chartered the vessel to the University of Texas at Austin for a marine geology and geophysics student training field course using Port Aransas as the home base for the week;
- In early June, TDI-Brooks started a series of geotechnical acquisitions for Anadarko at Horn Mountain and LLOG/Pinnacle at Calliope; and
- In late June through July, the BMCC will continue geotechnical coring including projects for Talos at the Bulleit development in Green Canyon lease area, and another program for SHELL at the Whale development in the Western Gulf. In 4-Q we have another geotechnical project awarded from Anadarko for the Ceasar-Tonga extension.
The BMCC has kept busy this year on these successive spot charters. While the BMCC has availability, we expect the vessel to stay busy through the next quarter and beyond on a series of short projects including an EBS in the Bahamas in August.
The BMCC’s primary market niche in the Gulf/US East Coast is geotechnical coring/CPT and survey acquisitions. The BMCC is available for pipeline hazard, cable route surveys, debris mapping, P-Cable, MBES, metocean, sand search, and environmental studies.
R/V GYRE – NW Africa
The GYRE arrived in NW Africa (Dakar, Senegal) in late December-18 and over the last 6-months have completed six (6) legs for TGS Geophysical’s multi-client MBES, surface geochemical exploration (SGE) and heat flow (HF) project consisting of ~115,000 km2 of MBES, 230 PC and 23 HF & JPC sites (see figure below). The project will be complete in late August/early September. The GYRE will remain in Africa through 2019 and be available for other projects after August. TDI-Brooks has other projects ‘in play’ for the vessel in Nigeria, Benin, Senegal and Angola.
The GYRE is also outfitted with the TDI-Brooks full geotechnical kit including 20-m JPC, 40-m CPT-Stinger and Stinger-Sampler as well as other EBS, survey, cable route, metocean, etc. capabilities.
R/V PROTEUS – NSA / Brazil
The R/V PROTEUS has been working fairly continuously throughout 2019 after leaving the GoM in early January on a series of projects in Guadeloupe, Guyana and Brazil including:
- In January and February, teamed with GeoTeam, the vessel conducted the survey and geotechnical components of a cable route in Guadeloupe;
- In April TDI-Brooks conducted two (2) EBS surveys for XOM in Guyana (read more here: https://www.tdi-bi.com/tdi-brooks-international-inc-completes-ebs-program-offshore-guyana/);
- In June TDI-Brooks (with SeaSeep Dados) conducted a large geotechnical project for SHELL at the Gato do Mato development; and
- Starting in late June the PROTUES will begin Phase II of the coring component of TGS’s seep hunting program in the Campos/Santos basins. This Phase II will consist of the acquisition of ~170 additional piston cores for this TGS multi-client seep hunting project.
The PROTEUS in the late July/early August time frame is available for other projects in Brazil/NSA regions. The expectation is that the PROTEUS will continue in Brazil in August on short spot charters before departing for an awarded EBS in Fr. Guiana for TOTAL/Creocean. The vessel has other projects ‘in play’ in NSA in 4Q as well as the potential of the vessel transiting to West Africa in 4Q. Thus, this vessel is currently available for projects in Brazil in August, the NSA region in September/October and possible West Africa in 4Q.
The PROTEUS is outfitted with TDI-Brooks’ complete geotechnical tool kit including 20-m JPCs and 40-m CPT-Stinger/Samplers along with other TDI-Brooks standard SGE, HF, survey, EBS, cable route, etc. services. The PROTEUS has a Kongsberg EM-710 (1×1) hull-mounted MBES for surveys to ~2,500-m wd.
MEXICO
The below figure shows TDI-Brooks’ EBS and geotechnical activities in Mexico over the last 18-months. In early 2019, TDI-Brooks had its Mexican-based 3rd Party vessel kit mobilized on the MV LAGUNA AZUL conducting EBS projects in several blocks for ENI and Petronas through ERM. In March we moved this kit which included a ‘light’ piston core and gCPT kit, over to a Drebbel de Mexico chartered vessel, the MV NATALIE. On this vessel as a Drebbel subcontractor in April/May, TDI-Brooks acquired ~300 PC and gCPT pairs along pipeline routes on several successive programs. TDI-Brooks plans in August to remobilize its EBS/geotechnical kit on another Mexican OSV for additional geotechnical and EBS projects.
TDI-Brooks has several vessel options to acquire EBS, geotechnical, survey, metocean and other services in Mexico. In August/September, TDI-Brooks will have its ‘heavy’ geotechnical kit on an Oceaneering vessel conducting a large, deep-water geotechnical program in northern Mexico. Please let us know if we can assist you with your awarded blocks. You can visit our website for more info on our vessels and capabilities here: https://www.tdi-bi.com/
Strategic Alliances – GEMS, ONE and Maxon Consulting
TDI-Brooks has ongoing strategic alliances with a number of companies that allow us to offer complete engineering and environmental project solutions. We have a long-standing association with Geoscience Earth & Marine Services (GEMS) in Houston to support our engineering reporting in marine geology/geophysics, geotechnical engineering and marine archaeology projects. TDI-Brooks seep-hunting programs are conducted as part of an alliance with ONE (Drs. John Decker, Dan Orange and Phil Teas) with world-class expertise in MBES and seep-site selection. On environmental baseline surveys, we team with Maxon Consulting to provide the regulatory, comprehensive environmental interpretation and infauna/meiofauna analyses. Through these strong alliances we can provide integrated solutions for geophysical, geotechnical, seep-hunting and environmental projects.
TDI-Brooks also provides technical engineering and 3rd Party expertise.
BOEM, NOAA & USFWS Federal Projects
NOAA NS&T Project – TDI-Brooks is the long-standing contractor for NOAA’s National Status and Trends (NS&T) Mussel Watch project. This is the premier, 28-year monitoring program in coastal bays and estuaries along all three US coasts (East, West/Alaska and GoM). More information can be found here: https://www.tdi-bi.com/tdi-brooks-awarded-national-status-and-trends-nst-program-mussel-watch-and-bioeffects-programs-analytical-chemistry/
BOEM/NOAA Deepwater Atlantic Habitats II: Continued Atlantic Research and Exploration in Deepwater Ecosystems with Focus on Coral, Canyon and Seep Communities – “DEEP SEARCH” Project – In previous updates, we have described some of this interagency, five (5) year, multi-million-dollar study’s accomplishments. The last six months of the program have seen more accomplishments and several noteworthy findings.
TDI-Brooks serves as the prime contractor for this Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) funded study which focuses on the exploration and investigation of deepwater biological communities located in U.S. federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean (Virginia to Georgia). Results of the completed program will provide energy resource information needs for future offshore leasing of the Outer Continental Shelf in the mid and south Atlantic regions and information on the continental slope ecosystems.
A new video captures highlights of the August 2018 expedition on the RV Atlantis using the submersible Alvin. This expedition characterized an 85-mile stretch of Lophelia coral located 160 miles off the South Carolina coast. DEEP SEARCH is the acronym for DEEP Sea Exploration to Advance Research on Coral/Canyon/Cold Seep Habitats. Fieldwork began in 2017 under the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP). https://www.boem.gov/The-DEEP-SEARCH-Study/
From 9 – 30 April 2019, DEEP SEARCH scientists, departing from Charleston, South Carolina, collected additional, critical baseline information about deepwater habitats offshore the U.S. Mid- and South Atlantic coast. Sailing aboard NOAA Ship RON BROWN using the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s ROV JASON, the expedition explored and characterized seeps, corals, canyons, and associated fauna along the Atlantic margin between Virginia and Georgia.
During the cruise JASON examined some of the approximately 85 linear miles of Lophelia reef mapped during a previous cruise.
During this 22-day expedition, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) JASON was used to explore and sample seafloor environments with push cores and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), the Dutch National Oceanographic Institute, benthic lander.
A 5 min video documentary from RV ATLANTIS using the submersible ALVIN can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/RwpB6u2XiqA A 10-14 day cruise on the NOAA ship NANCY FOSTER is in the planning stages for October-November.
NOAA ProTech Award – TDI-Brooks, as a member of Team TBG, was awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Professional and Technical (ProTech) Services Oceans Domain. This is a two-year contract with three one-year options. Team TBG will provide support, strategy and innovative solutions to advance the mission of NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS). ProTech Oceans enables the NOS to acquire geospatial mapping and scientific data collection; create partnerships to define science-based solutions; and address economic, environmental and social pressures concerning U.S. oceans and coasts.
3rd Party Deployments. TDI-Brooks can offer our coring/CPT, HF, EBS and other services off 3rd party vessels. We have 3rd Party vessel kits for all the services we offer for deployment worldwide on projects where our vessels are not available. The 3rd Party vessels outfitted for EBS and geotechnical projects in Mexico were discussed above. This month TDI-Brooks will have cyclic T-Bar teams out on an Oceaneering program in the GoM and a Benthic program in Guyana for XOM. We have EBS and seep hunting projects that are likely in 4Q with our 3rd Party vessel kits in Indonesia and East Africa
Upcoming Conferences / New Developments
TDI-Brooks’ upcoming exhibitions in the next few months include the following:
- AAPG/ICE ANNUAL CONFERENCE– August 27 – 30, 2019, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Booth # 116
- SEG ANNUAL EXPOSITION AND 89TH ANNUAL MEETING –September 15 – 20, 2019, San Antonio, TX Booth # 1029
- PESGB AFRICA CONFERENCE– October 1 & 2, 2019, Olympia, London, UK, New College, Booth D3 & D4
- SETAC NORTH AMERICA–November 3 – 7, 2019, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Metro Toronto Centre, Booth # 307
Read here for a full listing of our 2019 exhibitions: https://www.tdi-bi.com/
Equipment Additions
TDI-Brooks is continues to upgrade our vessels and onboard equipment. In addition to the new Kongsberg EM-304 added to the GYRE in the last update, TDI-Brooks has purchased three (3) new Dynacon 5,000-m capable deep-ocean winches to support our own and 3rd Party vessel operations; we’ve expanded our 3rd Party vessel kits with new A-Frames, we’ve purchased new laboratory/office vans and coring/CPT kits. In the EBS realm we have added to our in-house kits a new SPI Camera (see picture below), a small observation ROV as well as benthic cameras for bottom photography associated with box operations. The SPI camera acquires both vertical sediment and planar images of the seafloor.
TDI-Brooks’ Sediment Profile Imaging (SPI) Camera
Summary
TDI-Brooks has over 20 years of vessel chartering and management experience and currently operates all of our vessels on the spot market for various research, government, academic and oil company service projects. All the TDI-Brooks vessels are outfitted for our market niches of seep hunting, survey/MBES, geotechnical and environmental sampling and cable route surveys. Most are also available for hazard, bathymetry and metocean projects. The vessels are available for charter by Clients for other purposes.
The TDI-Brooks fleet is operated within a robust Safety Management System and all vessels are regularly vetted by client marine assurance groups and a part of the OCIMF Offshore Vessel Inspection Database (OVID). Additional details on the vessels and our services can be found on our web site: www.tdi-bi.com
Please let us know if you would like to schedule or discuss chartering services on any of our TDI-Brooks’ research vessels. Jim Brooks (jimbrooks@tdi-bi.com) or Melissa Wood (melissawood@tdi-bi.com)
