R/V Shell America, Design Considerations

The R/V Shell America was built by Marinette Marine Corporation of Marinette, Wisconsin, delivered to Shell Offshore Inc. in November 1983 and placed in service in early 1984. It is the newest and at 300´, the largest oil exploration ship built in the United States. From the very start the Shell America was planned and designed primarily for acquiring continuous profile reflection seismic data on the outer continental shelf of North America. This paper describes the design process of the ship to meet the specific mission requirements as set out by the Shell explorationists and at the same time to provide for a possible future expansion or adaptation to new developments in seismic acquisition.