LEASES - Additional Information (Details)	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019
Lessee Lease Description [Line Items]
Operating leases weighted average remaining lease terms	3 years 10 months 24 days
Finance leases weighted average remaining lease terms	10 months 24 days
Operating leases weighted average discount rate	13.00%
Finance leases weighted average discount rate	13.00%
Minimum
Lessee Lease Description [Line Items]
Leases remaining lease terms	1 year
Lessee, Operating Lease, Existence of Option to Extend	true
Lessee, Operating Lease, Existence of Option to Terminate	true
Lessee, Finance Lease, Existence of Option to Extend	true
Lessee, Finance Lease, Existence of Option to Terminate	true
Maximum
Lessee Lease Description [Line Items]
Leases remaining lease terms	8 years
Leases, option to extend lease term	3 years

Lessee operating and finance lease option to extend lease term.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Lessee operating and finance lease remaining lease term.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	saex_
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- Definition

Weighted average discount rate for finance lease calculated at point in time.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (g)(4)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918686-209980

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-Publisher FASB
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+ Details

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Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Weighted average remaining lease term for finance lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (g)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918686-209980

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 53
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888399&loc=SL77918982-209971

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- Definition

Indicates (true false) whether lessee has option to extend finance lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918673-209980

+ Details

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- Definition

Indicates (true false) whether lessee has option to terminate finance lease.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Indicates (true false) whether lessee has option to extend operating lease.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

Description of terms and conditions of option to terminate operating sublease.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

Weighted average discount rate for operating lease calculated at point in time.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Weighted average remaining lease term for operating lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 53
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888399&loc=SL77918982-209971

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-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918686-209980

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