A water-fillable fairing configured to be mounted on a cable has a fairing body and an inlet. The fairing body is at least partially made of a flexible material, and is able to hold water at a higher pressure than an average pressure outside the fairing body, while the cable is towed. The inlet, which is located on a front part of the fairing body in the towing direction, is configured to allow water to enter the fairing body when the cable is towed.

A submerged front end buoy has a body with a connecting mechanism for connecting to a lead-in cable and a seismic streamer. A depth adjustment mechanism is disposed within the body to set a depth of the submerged front end buoy and includes an adjustable buoyancy mechanism and a plurality of wings extending from an exterior surface of the body.

A front-end gear connects a streamer to a vessel. The front-end gear includes a lead-in that connects to the streamer, a first bend limiting element attached to the lead-in and to a float that floats at a sea surface, a second bend limiting element attached to the lead-in, a distance L away from the first bend limiting element, and a depressor attached to the second bend limiting element. The float generates a first force (F1) on the lead-in and the depressor generates a second force (F2) on the lead-in when the lead-in is towed underwater. The first and second forces act to apply a tension in a portion of the lead-in spanning the distance L, to reduce transversal noise propagation toward the streamer.

Marine geophysical damper system. At least some of the example embodiments are methods of manufacturing a geophysical data product including obtaining geophysical data by a sensor streamer; and recording the geophysical data on a tangible computer-readable medium. The obtaining may include: towing a sensor streamer and a dilt buoy, the dilt buoy coupled to a proximal end of the sensor streamer by a line, the sensor streamer is submerged in a body of water and the dilt buoy is disposed at the surface the body of water; and during the towing measuring movement of the dilt buoy caused by surface wave action; and selectively damping relative movement between the dilt buoy and the sensor streamer, the relative movement caused by the surface wave action, and the selectively damping by a damper associated with the line.

A method for handling a cable that is faired by means of a fairing, the cable towed by a ship on board which there is a winch allowing the faired cable to be wound in and paid out through a faired-cable guide device, the method comprises: a first step of monitoring the cable, making it possible to detect whether the fairing is experiencing a double twist around the cable comprising an immersed full twist and an airborne full twist, and, when a double twist is detected, a first step of hauling in the faired cable, during which step the faired cable is hauled in, the first hauling step being carried out in such a way that the immersed full twist at least partially leaves the water and does not enter the guide device.

A skeg mounts from the stern of a towing vessel and extends below the waterline. A channel in the skeg protects cables for steamers and a source (e.g., air gun array) of a seismic system deployed from the vessel. Tow points on the skeg lie below the water's surface and connect to towlines to support the steamers and the source. A floatation device supports the source and tows below the water's surface to avoid ice floes or other issues encountered at the water's surface. Seismic streamers have head floats supporting the streamers. Each of the floats has adjustable buoyancy preconfigured to counterbalance the weight in water of the towed component that the float supports. Acoustic signals from a transceiver at the vessel find locations of the towed components. A towed fish at a lower level than the towed components also uses acoustic signals with a transceiver to further refine the locations of the towed components.

A foil having a leading edge, trailing edge, chord and span is attached between a first head float position and bottom submerged position below the head float on the array. The foil being flexible along its span and has a first interior conduit rearward of the leading edge and a second interior conduit forward of the trailing edge. The conduits are centered on the chord and separated by a distance. A first cable having a first length is strung inside the first conduit and a second cable having a second length is strung inside the second conduit, and an adjustment mechanism is used to vary the length of the first cable relative to the length of the second cable and vice versa.

A vortex-induced vibration (VIV) suppression device including a fairing comprising a fairing body having a nose dimensioned to partially encircle an underlying tubular and a first arm and a second arm extending from the nose, wherein the nose, the first arm and the second arm are one integrally formed unit and the first arm and the second arm are spaced a distance from one another along their entire length so as to define a gap therebetween; and a securing element dimensioned to fit within the gap between the first arm and the second arm and secure the fairing to an underlying tubular. Methods for securing a U-shaped fairing to a tubular and manufacturing a U-shaped fairing are also disclosed.

A fairing having a fairing body having a nose dimensioned to partially encircle an underlying tubular and having a fairing body axis; a stand-off region extending radially outward from the nose, wherein the stand-off region comprises a first side wall extending from one side of the nose and a second side wall extending from another side of the nose and toward the first side wall; a tail flange extending radially outward from the stand-off region, the tail flange having a substantially planar member comprising a first portion adjacent the stand-off region and a second portion radially outward to the first portion; and an opening formed within one of the nose or the stand-off region, wherein the opening is parallel to the fairing body axis and the opening is modifiable between an open configuration and a closed configuration.

A foil having a leading edge, trailing edge, chord and span is attached between a first head float position and bottom submerged position below the head float on the array. The foil being flexible along its span and has a first interior conduit rearward of the leading edge and a second interior conduit forward of the trailing edge. The conduits are centered on the chord and separated by a distance. A first cable having a first length is strung inside the first conduit and a second cable having a second length is strung inside the second conduit, and an adjustment mechanism is used to vary the length of the first cable relative to the length of the second cable and vice versa.