Sonardyne upgrades ‘Bibby Athena’

UK-based seabed survey company, Bibby HydroMap, is upgrading its coastal survey vessel ‘Bibby Athena’ with Sonardyne International Ltd’s new ultra-portable Mini-Ranger 2 USBL acoustic positioning system.

Mini-Ranger 2 is the latest addition to Sonardyne’s family of sixth-generation (6G) Ultra-Short Baseline (USBL) underwater target tracking systems and was introduced at the start of April to meet demand for a survey grade positioning system without the cost and complexity of a deep water USBL solution.

“As a long-term Sonardyne customer, Bibby HydroMap is thrilled to be the first UK company to adopt the new Mini-Ranger 2 system. Innovation is key to our success as a business, and we are keen to embrace technology that helps us to achieve our aim to be the seabed survey company of choice,” said Gustav Petterson, survey manager, Bibby HydroMap.

“The Mini-Ranger 2 is the ideal partner for our d’ROP, providing a highly efficient, cost-effective remote survey solution,” he added.

Offering an operating range of 2,000m and the ability to simultaneously track up to 10 subsea targets at very fast update rates (e.g. divers, AUVs and towfish), Mini-Ranger 2 is ideal for near shore operations on small, quiet vessels such as the Bibby Athena.

The Sonardyne 6G and Wideband 2 digital signal technology inside Mini-Ranger 2 USBL is said to offer precise acoustic ranging and hardware that is easier to set up and operate, even in the most challenging subsea operating environments. These features will help Bibby HydroMap to improve the efficiency of its subsea survey operations, reduce vessel delays and generate cost savings.

At the core of the system, is a 6G transceiver, said to be the smallest and lightest currently on the market. HPT 3000 is a 6G compatible ‘High Performance Transceiver’ featuring a new design of receiver array and transmitter which are optimised to provide excellent performance in shallow water, at high elevations as well as in deeper water.

With the HPT 3000 transceiver installed through the hull of the Bibby Athena, Bibby HydroMap will be using its Mini-Ranger 2 system during Ocean Business 2015 to precisely track the position of their Dynamic Remotely Operated Platform (d’ROP) as it carries out daily demonstrations of its capabilities around the Empress Dock and beyond.