Offshore staff
SUBIACO, Australia – Blue Ocean Monitoring Ltd. has purchased a new L3Harris Technologies Iver3 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to support its global survey operations.
The AUV is said to be one of the smallest and lightest on the market, allowing for single-user deployment from small work vessels or directly from shore. It is capable of operating in water depths up to 200 m (656 ft).
The Iver3 AUV is equipped with an EdgeTech 2205B sonar which combines side-scan sonar with an interferometric phase differencing bathymetry system, which provides a wider swath in shallow water compared to multibeam echo sounders, the company said.
The EdgeTech 2205B sonar is also said to be the only interferometric system on the market that produces bathymetry data with no nadir gap, furthering the efficacy of these systems for shallow water and low altitude coverage.
Simon Illingworth, managing director of Blue Ocean Monitoring, said: “We have immediate requirements for subsea pipeline inspection surveys, shallow water bathymetry surveys and benthic habitat monitoring; however, there are many other applications we are currently exploring.
“The AUV has open system architecture and a modular payload which allows us to be flexible, but it also gives us the opportunity to integrate and test emerging sensor technologies easily as they become available.”
10/09/2019
