Third Fugro Vessel Joins MH370 Search
Fugro has provided a third company vessel, ‘Fugro Supporter’, to carry out underwater search operations in the southern Indian Ocean for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft which disappeared last March with the loss of 239 passengers and crew.
The 70m full ocean-depth multipurpose survey vessel, which joins Fugro Discovery and Fugro Equator as part of search activities co-funded by the Australian and Malaysian governments, is equipped with deep-tow advanced geophysical and geotechnical equipment. It additionally has a Kongsberg Hugin 4500 AUV for scanning sectors of the search area which cannot be investigated effectively by equipment on other vessels, including those from the Chinese and Malaysian navies.
To date, bathymetric surveys of well over 208,000 square km of uncharted seafloor area off Western Australia have resulted in discovery of previously unknown features, including rugged terrain and deep trenches. In addition to locating the missing aircraft, underwater search activities aim to map the MH370 debris field in order to identify and prioritise recovery of specific aircraft components, including the flight data recorders.
Meanwhile, Fugro has just taken delivery of the third of a series of new offshore coastal survey vessels built by Damen Shipyards, Fugro Frontier. Designed for geotechnical work, environmental baseline surveys and moon pool deployment in addition to monitoring and inspection activities, it is destined for operation in African shallow waters.
By David Goodfellow
