Nordic Business Report-December 22, 2006-SeaBird Exploration Ltd enters into 5-year charter (C)1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com The Norwegian-controlled seismic services provider SeaBird Exploration Ltd said on Friday (22 December) that it has entered into a five-year firm bareboat charter with Siem Offshore Inc for the vessel Siem Mariner. SeaBird will convert the vessel to a state-of-the-art SeaBed Seismic vessel at a cost estimated to be approximately USD17m. The value of the firm period of the contract has been set at approximately USD57m and it is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2007. SeaBird has an option to purchase the vessel at the expiry of the firm five-year period at a price of approximately USD48m. SeaBird Exploration, with an operational office in Dubai, is a global provider of marine 2D and 3D seismic data, solutions for seabed acquisition of 4C/4D multi-mode seismic, and associated products and services to the oil and gas industry. The company operates a fleet of five vessels. One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 1.91 US dollars (USD). ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected]))