Spanish Research Council Purchases Seasoar System

Chelsea Technologies Group (CTG) is pleased to announce delivery of a new SeaSoar Towed Undulating system to the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Barcelona for their new vessel, RV Sarmiento de Gamboa. This SeaSoar has been fitted with a Seabird Electronics SBE911 CTD, with dual CT heads fitted externally on either side of the SeaSoar body. The SeaSoar will provide the CSIC with the capability to gather oceanographic data from near surface to depths of 500 metres whilst underway at speeds up to 12 knots. The sale was secured by CTG’s representatives in Spain, EMS S.L., who will themselves be adding further instrumentation within the vehicle including a Brooke Ocean Technologies LOPC, illustrating the versatility of the SeaSoar payload area within the vehicle. The new vessel was launched during the summer 2007 and the first mission is to begin in 2008.

This sale follows an increased interest in the SeaSoar, with recent sales of two systems to EPSHOM in France and a major SeaSoar upgrade for Scripps Institute of Oceanography. SeaSoar is a highly versatile towed undulating vehicle used to deploy a wide range of oceanographic monitoring equipment. It is capable of undulating from the surface to 500 metres at tow speeds of up to 12 knots following a controlled and adjustable undulating path through the ocean. The PC based SeaSoar Deck Control Unit onboard the ship enables the operator to have real-time computer control over the vehicle’s flight profile together with the storage and display of the flight parameters. Data obtained from sensors mounted in SeaSoar, are transmitted to the towing vessel for processing, display and storage via a multi-core tow cable. The high data rate and versatility of sensor and sampling packages make SeaSoar an effective and productive platform for large scale data collection.