“RS Marine and the Marine Institute have entered into a collaborative agreement which permitted the installation of a multibeam sonar (Kongsberg EM710) owned by MI on the MV Patrick and William. This increases the vessels science capacity for high resolution seabed mapping as a research
vessel in the blue economy. The EM710 MBES has a much greater range and swath coverage in medium to deep water depths required for the offshore. This agreement allows both RS Marine and MI to pursue education and research opportunities under an agreed set of terms and conditions.
Ownership, operation, and maintenance of this equipment remains solely with MI and will be supported by the resources and expertise of the Centre for Applied Ocean Technology. Utilization of this technology through partnership with MI can now be provided by the research vessel Patrick and William along with its capability to accommodate a host of scientist for longer durations to remote research environments. Operation, ownership and liability of the vessel lies solely with RS Marine whereby any chartering of the vessel for seabed mapping will be mutually beneficial.
The MBES has the operational capacity from 3m below its transducers to a maximum acquisition depth of 1800m with 400 soundings per ping. With a maximum 140° swath width the across track coverage is up to 5.5 times water depth a to a maximum of 2000 m. The transducers on this EM710 model is capable of producing a beam width of 1° (transmit) and 2° (receive). To compliment this capability, a moving vessel profiler (AML MVP-200) is installed on the vessel to provide the sound velocity profiles required during a hydrographic survey while the vessel is underway. The system delivers a real-time feed of sound velocity data into the multibeam system without the need to stop the vessel. The ability to continuously survey without stopping for sound velocity casts will reduce survey time and vessel costs considerably.”