Argentina’s National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP) has selected an extensive suite of Simrad marine ecosystem assessment technology from Kongsberg Maritime. It is for the new oceanographic and fishing research vessel.
The new ship is currently under con[ds_preview]struction at Spanish yard Astilleros Armon Vigo shipyard. The 52 m long research vessel is scheduled for delivery in mid-2017.
The combination of acoustic systems chosen by INIDEP is particularly suited to provide for understanding of the entire marine ecosystem. The equipment scope of supply includes: EK80 scientific wideband system, ME70 scientific multibeam system, a dedicated Bathymetric option for habitat mapping, SX90 Omnidirectional sonar for long-range detection and support for fishery operation, PI50 trawl monitoring system and FX80 with live camera feed from sampling trawl. The new Simrad TD50 software released in Vigo earlier this year is also included in the delivery, enabling the ME70 multibeam data to be visualised real time in 3D during a survey.
According to Kongsberg the company is experiencing significant growth in deliveries of ‘integrated systems for research vessels’, which includes acoustic systems, integrated bridge systems, automation system and related vessel operational systems. In addition to the Simrad marine ecosystem package, the new INIDEP vessel will also utilise a Kongsberg Seapath 330+ with Motion Reference and GPS input to the acoustic systems and the Kongsberg MDM 500 Marine Data Management system.
