Facts about Ocean Surveyor

Equipment and measuring instruments on Ocean Surveyor

Positioning Systems: 1. GNSS, 2. RTK, 3. USBL

Hydroacoustic Measurement Systems: 4. Seismic sound transmitter, 5. Seismic sound receiver, 6. Sediment echo sounder, 7. Parametric sediment echo sounder, 8. Echo sounder, 9. Side-scan sonar, 10. Multibeam echo sounder

Sediment Echo Sounders: 11. Grab sampler, 12. G-Max, 13. Grab sampler, 14. Box corer and Van Veen, 15. Piston corer, 16. Vibrocorer

Observation Systems: 17. CTD probe, 18. Underwater camera, Flow velocity meter, CTD probe, Oxygen meter, 19. Profiling sound velocity meter

Analysis Systems: 20. Sediment X-ray, Gamma spectrometer

Design, construction, and classification

The vessel was built and designed by Båtservice Verft A/S in Mandal, Norway. It is a catamaran constructed from Kevlar-reinforced divinycell originally designed for ocean traffic. The vessel's lifespan was extended in 2022 to meet today's environmental standards.

Main dimensions

Overall Length: 38.0 meters

Maximum Width: 12.0 meters

Navigable Height: 22.0 meters

Draft: 3.4 meters

Main Deck Height above Waterline: 2.4 meters

Gross Tonnage: 514 Gross Tons

Moon Pool: 2x2 meters

Speed

Economic Speed: 9.2 knots

Maximum Speed: 11.5 knots

Accommodation

The vessel has accommodation for a total of 14 crew members and expedition participants in 12 single cabins with private WC and shower, as well as 2 double cabins with shared WC and shower onboard.

Main propulsion system

Diesel-electric propulsion system

Each engine room is equipped with an electric permanent magnet AC motor rated at 896 kW, Danfoss model EM-PMI540-T4000.

Propulsion motors

Four Volvo Penta D13 IMO Tier 3 diesel engines, two in each engine room, model D13C1-A MH with an electric permanent magnet AC generator from Danfoss, model EM-PMI540-T4000, each rated at 358 kW.

Propellers, supplied by Schaffran

3-blade low-noise propellers with variable pitch, ±5 degrees.

Side thrusters

Two tunnel thrusters in each hull, Danfoss EM-PMI375-TXX.

Winches, cranes, handling equipment

Aft deck

• Winch with steel-reinforced cable for optical fiber and two power lines, 900 meters, ø11.5 mm, SWL 15 kN
• Winch with steel cable SWL-I 5 tons
• Winch with steel cable SWL 8 tons
• A-frame
• A-frame winch with steel cable, SWL 8 kN
• Folding arm crane on the aft deck
• Moon pool winch
• Hydrographic winch, starboard railing
• Davit for transport and deployment of the survey boat Ugglan

Laboratories

Sediment lab at the aft deck for analysis and documentation of sediments, photography of sediment cores, and cesium 137 analyses.

Fine lab adjacent to the sediment lab with fume hood for analysis and handling of environmental samples of sediment, as well as water samples and X-raying of sediment cores.

Scientific equipment

Hydroacoustic instruments

Multibeam echo sounder, Kongsberg EM 2040 Dual Rx, up to 1000 meters depth, 0.7 degrees. 800 positions per ping up to 40 times per second.

Parametric sediment echo sounder, Kongsberg PS 120, up to 500 meters depth, beam angle 1.5x2 degrees, source frequencies 85–115 kHz, measurement frequency 2–30 kHz, measurement resolution 5 cm, ping rate up to 40 times per second. Penetration up to 50 meters in clay.

Sediment echo sounder, IXBLUE Echos 3500-T3, up to 1500 meters depth, beam angle 45 degrees, measurement frequency 1.7–6 kHz, measurement resolution 20 cm, ping rate up to 10 times per second. Penetration up to 150 meters in clay and 20 meters in sand.

Seismic systems

Multi-channel seismic (2025), air guns Seamap in configurations of 4 or 10 cubic inches, 160 bar up to 2 times per second. Sercel GI-gun in configurations of 50 (25/25 G/I), 150 (45/105 G/I), or 210 (105/105 G/I) cubic inches, 160 bar with pulses every 1.67, 5, or 7 seconds.

Positioning systems

Satellite positioning system Seatex Seapath 330+ for GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/Beidou with DGPS/DGLONASS and RTK corrections. Speed accuracy of 0.03 m/s. Horizontal position accuracy 1 cm and vertical accuracy 2 cm. Course accuracy of 0.04 degrees. Roll and pitch accuracy of 0.01 degrees. Heave accuracy of 5 cm in real-time. Movements data updates up to 200 times per second.

Underwater Positioning, System Kongsberg HiPaP 502. ±100 degrees measurement angle against nadir around the entire horizontal plane. 241 transmitter-receiver elements. Angle determination with 0.06 degrees precision, distance precision 2 cm. The system supports USBL, LBL, and Mult-LBL and acoustic two-way communication. Positioning range 2000–13000 meters depending on the transducer.

Automated Water Profiling System, AML MVP30-350. The system is equipped with measuring sensors for sound speed, conductivity, temperature, and pressure. Sound speed profiles down to 650 meters depth every 9 minutes.

Weather station

Weather station from Vaisala with sensors for meteorology.

Underwater camera hoisted in the A-frame

Underwater photography and video down to 150 meters depth. The camera housing is equipped with a system camera on a pan head and ten lights for good image quality. Parallel lasers for size estimation, oxygen sensor, fluxgate compass, conductivity, temperature, and pressure probe, and Doppler for measuring water movements.

Container space

Additional laboratories, equipment, and other materials can be brought on board in containers.

The vessel has space for a 20-foot container laid down on the port side of the aft deck. A ten-foot container fits on the aft deck, and an additional 10-foot container fits on the starboard aft deck side.

Equipment on the bridge

• Furuno Radar
• ECDIS
• Simrad GPS
• Dynamic Positioning NAVIS DP-0
• Simrad Autopilot AP70
• Anschutz NG002 Gyro
• Neptun Magnetic Compass
• JRC JLN 741A Doppler Log
• Simrad EA 28/200 KHz Echo Sounder
• Gill Instruments Ltd Wind Sensor
• Tron AIS TR 8000 AIS
• Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System BR-500
• Automation System
• METS Automation and Migration System - MIAS

Safety equipment

• Man Overboard (MOB) boat on the port side with stand-alone davit
• Liferaft for 25 persons on each side
• 25 life vests on each side
• EPIRB McMurdo Smartfind G8 AIS
• SART
• SSAS/LRIT Sailor 6120
• SOPEP
• EEBD
• 20 rescue suits for 4-hour use

Tank volumes

• Fuel tanks 90 m³
• Water tank 5.2 m³

Environment and noise (climate)

• Reverse osmosis for freshwater production
• Double-mounted diesel engines
• Damped pipe passages out from the engine room
• Heat exchangers take heat and cooling from the sea
• Two 63-amp connections can be used in port for the entire vessel
• Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) of exhaust gases
• The vessel meets the stringent environmental requirements for ships, IMO Tier III
• The vessel can operate on technical diesel HVO100
• Black and gray water are stored onboard for disposal on land

Call sign and MMSI

• Call sign SJBO
• MMSI 265226000
• IMO 831 68 19

All vessels are assigned a call sign to be used for all radio voice communications. MMSI stands for Maritime Mobile Service Identifier and is a number that identifies the vessel during communication. These concepts are explained further on the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority's website. The IMO number is a unique ID number assigned to sea-going vessels over 100 GT with certain exceptions. The number remains with the vessel for its entire lifetime and is never reused.

Security protection and privacy

SGU has the right, under regulation (2026:320) on the protection of geographic information, to conduct hydrographic surveys according to Section 3 of the Act (2016:319) on the protection of geographic information, as well as the right to perform photography or similar recording from aircraft according to the same law.

However, SGU does not have the authority to decide on dissemination permits for compilations of geographic information. That question is handled by the Swedish Maritime Administration.

Our vessels meet the requirements set by the security protection legislation to handle security-sensitive classified information. For more information, please contact us!