Oceanscience, In partnership with Benelux representative Geometius B.V., conducted the first demonstration of the Z-Boat 1800 equipped with side scan sonar for bottom imaging applications.

With the Tritech StarFish 1000kHz high resolution sonar attached to the Z-Boat hull, a special data telemetry module allows real time side scan images of the bottom to be viewed on the shore laptop. This powerful capability has great potential for rapid response surveying, allowing the operator to steer the boat around the search area and quickly detect targets of interest.

In a search and recovery situation, dive team members can then be directed to the object without having to conduct a “blind” search. Geometius’ Sales Engineer Sander Terwee, an experienced hydrographic surveyor, led the demonstration and commented: “The product was largely designed for a hydrographic survey environment, but the side scan offers great potential for SAR. A little work needs to be done making the system suitable for non-survey operators, and improving the start up time, but the demo was a great opportunity to learn the key requirements for these missions and we had still located the first target in around 10 minutes from unpacking the boat from the car.”

Despite the over 20mph winds and an exposed canal leading to some choppy water, not an ideal spot for the 6ft (1.8m) Z-Boat, the side scan system was able to resolve targets quite easily. The test involved a sunken vehicle and a one-armed fake victim.