GeoAcoustics multibeam for world’s largest inland port
The world’s largest inland port at Duisburg in Germany, which adjoins two major shipping arteries of the Rhine and Ruhr, is to upgrade its survey capability with commissioning of a GeoSwath Plus wide swath bathymetry multibeam system from Great Yarmouth-based GeoAcoustics, a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime.
Replacing present single beam sounding facilities, the system will provide full bathymetric coverage of the port’s 21 basins with unprecedented resolution while reducing overall survey times. Other quoted advantages include co-registering of sidescan data which can also be used to detect debris in addition to mapping bottom types.
Meanwhile, GeoAcoustics has also been busy with the first commercial delivery of a GeoChirp 3D high-resolution sub-bottom profiler to China’s First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) in Quingdao. Originally developed in association with the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton for object detection, it utilises the principles of conventional 3D reflection seismics for hydrocarbon exploration. Variants have hitherto been used for a wide range of applications, including marine archaeology, geology and researching landslide mechanisms in the Norwegian fjords.
By David Goodfellow
