Fugro expands AUV fleet
Fugro, the Dutch survey organisation, has expanded its AUV fleet with the addition of a Kongsberg Hugin 1000 craft featuring an extended depth rating of 4,500m, Echo Surveyor VII. The state-of-the-art acquisition will provide improved multibeam swathe coverage while supporting acquisition of sidescan sonar, sub-bottom profiler and CTD profiler data. It also provides internal navigation for accurate and efficient data collection.
Housing an instrumentation payload suitable for geochemical hydrocarbon seep exploration and producing data with enhanced resolution and increased quality, the new system can be mobilised for rapid deployment from various vessels of opportunity. One such is Fugro Americas, a new 59-metre shallow water vessel built for Fugro’s US division by Thom-Sea Marine Constructors of Louisiana for assignments throughout North and South America as well as the Caribbean.
By David Goodfellow
