It will also be used to enhance routine dredge monitoring operations.

Meanwhile, the Port of London has also just acquired an 8101 system which, it says, will not only improve re-survey operations but also be invaluable for monitoring of proposed dredging activities in the Thames Estuary. A better understanding of physical and historic environments within the Thames is among other declared objectives.

One of a series of multibeam systems developed by Reson of Denmark, the 8101 utilises up to 3,000 soundings per second for a swathe that can be over 500m width at vessel speeds in excess of 18 knots. It has a measurement rate of up to 30 profiles per second at depths down to 100m.