Fugro OSAE GmbH has been awarded a €2.3 million hydrographic survey contract by the Norwegian Hydrographic Service (NHS). The survey is part of the MAREANO project and will encompass an area over 12,000km² in the Barents Sea.
The area is located 200km offshore in the northern-most part of Norway, near the Russian border, in water depth down to 300 metres. As the North Atlantic current keeps the waters in this area open and navigable most of the year, the survey will be carried out in early 2012. Data will be acquired by the survey vessel Victor Hensen using the new, high resolution Kongsberg EM2040 multibeam echo sounder. Processing will take place onboard the vessel and at Fugro OSAE’s processing centre in Bremen, Germany.
MAREANO is Norway’s program to fill knowledge gaps related to seabed conditions and biodiversity along the northern Norwegian coast. The goal is to contribute to a better knowledge base for Resource Management, in particular for fishing and oil and gas exploitation. The acquisition of detailed and accurate bathymetry is an important first step in the collection of seafloor data. Fugro OSAE has previously conducted surveys as a part of the MAREANO project area in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 as well as collecting high resolution bathymetry data for Norwegian electronic nautical charting (ENC).