New survey vessel for ABP
Cheetah Marine has supplied a 7.9m turnkey hydrographic survey catamaran to Associated British Ports (ABP).
Presented to ABP at Seawork, Christine H Barrow was produced within a three-month period in collaboration with Teledyne Reson and features Reson’s SeaBat 7125-AUV Multibeam Echo Sounder and SeaBat T50-R multibeam sonar.
Speaking about the vessel, ABP’s commercial manager Christopher Anderson, said: “It will be based in Barrow Furness in Cumbria and will be doing multi-beam surveys on the seabed in the ports for safety and navigation purposes.”
Mobile capability
Surveys will be carried out in harbours and rivers between Liverpool and Ayr in Scotland. Cheetah’s shallow draught of 0.5m allows complex surveys to be carried out in rapid flow shallow water zones with minimal crew.
Mr Anderson added: “We needed a small portable solution and the ability to take the survey capability to other ports as well.”
Sean Strevens, senior partner at Cheetah Marine, commented: “This is the first time we’ve done a proper collaboration project with Teledyne to make a turnkey package. So essentially it’s going to be a production turnkey hydrographic boat with different options for different customers. The SeaBat T50-R multibeam sonar with integrated motion sensor brings the package as a turnkey ready to order.”
“The whole project is all about trying to maximise the data that can be got with this system. This is the first one we’ve done with an MIU straight on the multibeam and the first one with the T50.
Easy to use
The moonpool and hydropod ensures high accuracy of the fixing position meaning that the system does not require recalibration after transit and is easily transported between survey sites.
As the boat needed to be transportable by road, weight control was important so the structure and equipment needed to be as lightweight as possible. The vessel can be launched and recovered using Cheetahs triple axle trailer.
Mr Strevens explained: “There’s quite a lot of kit involved you need on the boat to make it a successful survey boat. We’ve developed our own 750-kilo trailer instead of a steel one which is a tonne, so we’ve saved 250 kilos on that weight by using H Section aluminium.”
The first vessel collaboration between Teleyne and Cheetah Marine was for the Saudi Ports Authority 12 years ago, during which time the moonpool and the hydropod were designed, Mr Strevens confirmed.
By Rebecca Jeffrey
