Seabeam for new Russian research ship – by David Goodfellow
Under an agreement with Transas Russian Fleet Ltd, L-3 ELAC Nautik of Kiel in Germany is to deliver and install a Seabeam 3020 multibeam sounder aboard a new icebreaking research vessel presently under construction at the Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg for the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology & Environmental Monitoring (ROSHYDROMET).
Due to be launched at the end of this year and replacing Akademik Feodorov, the new vessel is destined for polar sea work under the auspices of Russia’s Arctic & Antarctic Research Institute.
The 20kHz deepwater multibeam system will also include computer workstations for data processing, all relevant software, a synchronising unit for hydro-acoustic equipment and an ice-proof sound velocity unit. Supplementary equipment includes a HydroStar 4900 dual frequency sounder with a depth rating of 10,000m. A similar equipment assembly, which provides extremely wide coverage as well as near-field focusing in shallow waters, was commissioned last year aboard the Chilean icebreaker, Almirante Oscar Viel Toro.
