Last year I wrote about seismic start-ups that were able to take advantage of high commodity prices, a competitive environment, and a favorable investment climate. Let’s pick up the story of one of those companies, Eastern Echo.

In September 2007 I wrote, “Eastern Echo [is] a company so new that its first vessel won’t be completed until 2008. But the company has solid plans going forward. Its vision is to become ‘the leader in clean, safe, and effective marine data acquisition and through this become the client’s natural choice.’”

Despite the fact that it had not yet fired its first shot, Eastern Echo’s promise apparently caught the interest of at least one super-giant oilfield services company, Schlumberger. By Nov. 26, 2007, Schlumberger controlled 94% of Eastern’s shares. This was not the outcome the founding principals had hoped for.

“The ideology of that company was to come into the seismic industry focusing heavily on the differentiation,” said Peter Zickerman, now executive vice president of Polarcus. “We got off on a good foot in a good market and had well-developed plans to launch six boats. Then just days after our successful initial pubic offering came the unfriendly takeover by Schlumberger via an all-shares tender offer.”

Reeling from this turn of events, management team members left Eastern Echo and put their heads together to form a new company, Polarcus. Some of the goals were the same — to get a new, pure-play marine acquisition company up, running, and competitive in a short period of time. But with the added experience gained from launching Eastern Echo, two new goals emerged as well — to be so financially sound that another takeover would not be possible and to make the company, including the newbuilds, as environmentally friendly as possible.

The first goal has already been reached — Zickerman said that in addition to several large investors, the entire management team is heavily invested in the company, as are the shipyard and ship designer. “Together with them we won’t be selling the company,” he said. “I think we’re much safer this time.”

The second goal will be implemented over time. Starting in the third quarter of 2009, a new vessel will come online approximately once a quarter. There are plans for six vessels right now. All six of them will have features that are not common to seismic vessels of the past.

First is the design. Its slender keel lines and hull design provide a fuel-efficient transport through water. The fuel used will be diesel, not heavy fuel, because the emission factor is lower. In addition, catalytic converters onboard the vessel will help further reduce emissions.

“It’s an expense, but we feel it’s very well invested because we’re doing everything we can that’s technically available in the market to reduce our environmental exposure,” Zickerman said.

A dynamic positioning system will help keep the vessel on course in sensitive or producing areas, and redundant systems will keep the vessel moving in case of engine failure. Other environmentally motivated improvements include a water treatment system that rids ballast water of invasive species; a low-loss concept electrical system that reduces the consumption of fuel; a double hull; solid streamers; an IMO Green Passport, currently voluntary, to comply with future ship recycling recommendations; and a carbon offset program that Polarcus is seeking to coordinate with the World Bank.

The first two vessels will be Ice Class C, and the final four will be Ice Class 1A, strong enough to operate or transit safely in waters with ice floes of up to 30 in. thickness. This will be in keeping with the company’s strategy to provide seismic services in Arctic areas.

“We see huge potential up there,” Zickerman said. Added Christian Fenwick, senior vice president of business development and multi-client, “I think our timing will be spot-on in terms of the development of the market within the Arctic. There is activity already, but it’s a little stop-start today. However, I think the momentum is such that there will be movement and development in the Arctic, and I think we’re bringing a formula that will address some of the operating concerns.”

The fleet is also being designed with wide-azimuth acquisition in mind, and the hope is to help extend the use of that technology outside of the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, the third and fourth vessels of the fleet are specifically designed to be the first newbuild source boats on the market.

Further down the road will be multiclient surveys. But for now the focus is to put Eastern Echo behind and move forward with Polarcus.

“I’ve seen a few news items recently that imply Polarcus is simply a repeat of the Eastern Echo model, and I would strongly disagree with that,” Fenwick said. “Apart from being much more in control of our destiny this time around, we realized that we could do much more to show leadership in the environmental agenda, especially as a new entrant unencumbered with aging vessels. This is something we’ve become quite passionate about. There is a real commitment and willingness at Polarcus to try to improve the environmental performance of this industry.”