Kongsberg to equip new vessels
Norway’s Kongsberg Maritime is to supply a complete survey suite for Tiefsee Forschungs Schiff (TFS), a new multi-disciplinary research vessel being built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg for the German Ministry of Research.
To be operated by a number of domestic universities and organisations under the auspices of RF Forschungsschiffahrt of Bremerhaven, the vessel will replace its elderly forerunner, RV Sonne, and is due to become operational in 2014.
Equipment includes Kongsberg Maritime’s EM 122 and 710 multibeam sounders and a Seapath position reference system together with an EA 600 single beam sounder and a comparable EK 60 scientific unit. All will be integrated within a sophisticated onboard hydro-acoustic laboratory featuring a state of the art video wall. System delivery and installation begins this autumn.
Meanwhile, Kongsberg’s UK subsidiary in Great Yarmouth, GeoAcoustics, has delivered a 2094D sidescan system for a new survey vessel under construction by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea for the Geological Survey of India (GSI). The facility also includes a winch, complete acquisition and processing software and all necessary peripherals for seabed sonar surveys for which ten GSI geologists from its Marine & Coastal Survey Division underwent company training last July.
The Indian commission follows other overseas orders for GeoAcoustics’ GeoSwath Plus combined shallow water multibeam and sidescan systems from the Korean Research & Development Institute (KORDI) and the National University of Singapore.
