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Surf (Shipping company, France)

Compagnie des Moyens de Surface adaptés à l'Exploitation des Océans

Last modified: 2014-01-11 by ivan sache
Keywords: surf | letter: s (red) |
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[Flag of Surf]

House flag of Surf - Image by Ivan Sache, 11 February 2004


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History of Surf

The Compagnie des Moyens de Surface adaptés à l'Exploitation des Océans, in short, Surf, was created in February 1972 by Chambon, with a minority interest by the Messageries Maritimes and the Comex, a company from Marseilles specialized in exploration of the ocean depths and hyperbaric technology.
Surf's main activity is setting up, equipping and resupplying offshore oil rigs. The company is also involved in piloting and assisting tankers.

Source: Paul Bois. Armements marseillais - Compagnies de navigation et navires à vapeur (1831-1988), published by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marseille-Provence [boi03].

Surf was taken over by Groupe Bourbon and renamed Bourbon Offshore (website); data on its activity was available on the company website:

Surf operates 75 workships (71 waterjet powered crew boats and 4 conventional twin and triple screw crew boats) and 25 larger vessels (7 anchor handling tug supply vessels, 6 platforms supply vessels, 1 multipurpose DP2 straight supply vessel, 3 supply vessels, 4 oil terminal tugs and 2 Fast Support Intervention Vessels). The flagship of the company is UT Ulysse, bought in 1998 and the most powerful tug/supply vessel ever built in France.
Staff is 800 and turnover (2002) 98 millions USD.
The great majority (90 %) of Surf operations is located in Africa. The company has bases in Port-Harcourt (Nigeria), Douala (Cameroon), Port-Gentil (Gabon), Pointe-Noire (Dem. Congo) and Luanda (Angola). The remaining operations are located in the North Sea.

Ivan Sache, 11 February 2004


House flag of Surf

P. Bois [boi03] shows the house flag of Surf as white with the red logo of the company, a stylized letter "S", in the middle.

Ivan Sache, 11 February 2004