Seatronics to market mini-multibeam units
Equipment sales and rental specialists Seatronics of Aberdeen, which earlier this year invested £ 500,000 in IXSEA subsea navigation and positioning equipment, has concluded an agreement with BlueView Technologies of Seattle.
The companies will jointly market the American company’s series of miniature multibeam sonar systems worldwide, over 300 of which are in service with naval, port and academic authorities as well as offshore oil and gas groups.
Easily mounted on any ROV and consuming very little power, the 2D forward looking systems provide an effective replacement for a normal optical camera in zero visibility conditions and are therefore ideal for navigating in chaotic surroundings or within complex subsea structures. They have a depth range of between 300m and 4,000m.
Seatronics managing director David Currie anticipates them becoming an essential visual tool for ROV operators in the oil and gas industry working in waters where visibility is a problem, adding that they have a lot to offer users involved in structural inspection tasks. One particular area is the identification of pipeline leaks, as both gas and aqueous liquids strongly attenuate the sonar beam and so are readily apparent on images.
Seatronics is currently marketing the systems throughout Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East regions and has recently expanded distribution to users in the Gulf of Mexico. The Aberdeen company’s other bases are in Abu Dhabi, Houston, New Iberia and Singapore.
