Bibby HydroMap, a seabed survey company, has upgraded the Sonardyne Scout acoustic positioning system installed on its coastal survey vessel, Bibby Athena, to the new Sonardyne Mini-Ranger 2 USBL system.

Mini-Ranger 2 is the latest addition to Sonardyne’s family of sixth-generation (6G) Ultra-Short Baseline (USBL) underwater target tracking systems and was introduced at the start of April.

The Mini-Ranger 2 equipment, along with Sonardyne’s new Wideband Sub-Mini 6 Plus (WSM 6+) USBL transponder / responder, was delivered directly to the Bibby Athena on the opening day of the Ocean Business exhibition in Southampton in time for it to be installed and made available to support the underwater vehicle tracking demonstrations Bibby HydroMap will be carrying out during the event.

“Offering an operating range of 2,000 metres and the ability to simultaneously track up to 10 subsea targets at very fast update rates (e.g. divers, AUVs and towfish), Mini-Ranger 2 is ideal for nearshore operations on small, quiet vessels such as the Bibby Athena,” Sonardyne said in a statement.

According to the company, the Sonardyne 6G and Wideband 2 digital signal technology inside Mini-Ranger 2 USBL offers precise acoustic ranging and hardware that is easier to set up and operate, even in the most challenging subsea operating environments. These features will help Bibby HydroMap to improve the efficiency of their subsea survey operations, reduce vessel delays and generate cost savings.

At the core of the Mini-Ranger 2 USBL system, Sonardyne uses the smallest and lightest 6G transceiver currently on the market, the new HPT 3000. HPT 3000 is a 6G compatible ‘High

With the HPT 3000 transceiver installed through the hull of the Bibby Athena, Bibby HydroMap will be using their Mini-Ranger 2 system during Ocean Business 2015 to precisely track the position of their Dynamic Remotely Operated Platform (d’ROP) as it conducts daily demonstrations of its capabilities around the Empress Dock and beyond.

Gustav Petterson, Survey Manager at Bibby HydroMap. comments: “As a long-term Sonardyne customer, Bibby HydroMap is thrilled to be the first UK company to adopt the new Mini-Ranger 2 system. Innovation is key to our success as a business, and we are keen to embrace technology that helps us to achieve our aim to be the seabed survey company of choice. The Mini-Ranger 2 is the ideal partner for our d’ROP, providing a highly efficient, cost-effective remote survey solution.”