Survey Vessel Orion Demonstrated by Substructure at U.S. Hydro 2009 Conference
PORTSMOUTH, NH, May 29, 2009 – Substructure – a global marine services company providing high-resolution marine assessment, marine design and fabrication, commercial diving, and other underwater services – demonstrated the nearshore and coastal capabilities of new hydrographic survey vessel Orion during the U.S. Hydro 2009 Conference, held in Norfolk, Virginia, May 11-14, 2009.
Custom-designed by Substructure’s engineers and technicians, Orion features hull-mounted multibeam sonar and state-of-the-art electronics for bathymetric data accuracy and repeatability that meets or exceeds International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Special Order standards. The exceptional level of accuracy of the data provided by Orion can be critical for a variety of applications, including dredging volume computations, seafloor change evaluations, site characterization surveys, and engineering structural assessments.
“We were very pleased with Orion’s performance at the U.S. Hydro 2009 conference”, said Substructure President Tom Reis. “During three days of survey demonstrations, Orion consistently acquired clean, noise-free data, even while surveying at speeds of 15 knots.”
For this conference, the versatility of Orion was demonstrated with the integration of R2Sonic’s Sonic 2024 multibeam echosounder, hull mounted directly onto the Orion transducer fairing and moon pool plug; an IXSEA PHINS Inertial Navigation System; and QPS QINSy hydrographic data acquisition and post-processing software. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supplied real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS corrections via their VRS network for the demonstration.
"Orion is a superb multibeam echosounder platform, with the flexibility and stability to perform surveys from very-high-resolution item investigations to high-speed surveys at 15 knots,” observed R2Sonic President Jens Steenstrup. “The through-hull sonar mount is very stable, avoids bubble sweep down, and is acoustically quiet at all speeds. The professionalism of the Substructure team made installation and survey demonstrations run smoothly, and the survey professionals we demonstrated the system for were impressed."
Built for nearshore and coastal applications, sophisticated and versatile Orion is trailerable for rapid deployment and fully equipped for commercial diving. Ashtead Technology Technical Sales Engineer Shaun Neumann, who participated in an Orion demonstration, commented, “I greatly admired the construction effort that went into Orion, along with its sleek appearance, with no poles or exposed sensors. Survey operations are very nicely concealed and the accuracy obtained from the through-hull mounting arrangement is remarkable.”
Chief Hydrographer Tom Waddington, who oversees Substructure’s surveying operations, noted, “The survey-focused design, along with seamless integration of sophisticated equipment, help make Orion the best inshore survey boat that I’ve ever worked on. Another unique aspect is that the key individuals who designed and built the boat are also the ones putting it to work. That creates a very high level of familiarity and comfort in all of the boat’s systems.”
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