Fugro Mareano survey for Norwegian Hydrographic Service
Dutch survey conglomerate Fugro has begun an own-ship survey of approximately 15,000 square km of Norwegian territorial waters on behalf of the government’s Hydrographic Service under a contract reportedly worth around €3.8m.
The survey forms part of the governmental Mareano programme covering studies of seabed conditions and biodiversity along northern coastal regions for which Fugro has already carried out a number of surveys since 2006. Present work, due to be finally completed by the end of this November, is being carried out in the Barents Sea within various areas located above the 78th parallel with typical water depths ranging from 80 to 3,500 metres.
Main operations comprise the acquisition of high resolution and density multibeam echsounder data to support improved understanding of local ecosystems. The range of data includes bathymetry, backscatter and water column imaging together with su-bottom and gravimentary information.
By David Goodfellow
