Under the first contract, Mermaid's Singapore subsidiary Mermaid Marine Asia will supply three vessels for a minimum of 12 months to support Geokinetics' shallow water ocean bottom cable operations in Australia.

One vessel will be used for laying and retrieval of the cable, a second will be the source vessel for seismic data collection and the last will serve as the recording and processing vessel for the data.

The three vessels are being modified in Singapore for their respective roles, with operations expected to start in May.

Mermaid also secured an 18-month charter for the Mermaid Discovery to support Geokinetics' transition zone seismic data acquisition in Egypt.

The vessel, which has been upgraded to carry up to 50 clients with offices and recording rooms, is expected to be on station in the Mediterranean Sea around the third week of April.