Dutch trial mobilises new multibeam in less than an hour

The fast, straightforward installation of Kongsberg Maritime’s new EM 2040P echo sounder was proven during a demonstration in Amsterdam this May.

The system went from shelf, to boat to surveying in less than 1 hour, showing just how useful the EM 2040P can be for situations where quick deployment is vital, such as Search and Recover or on the spot inspections. The time to install even included deployment of the motion sensor and positioning system, complete with calibration.

EM 2040P system before the trial.

The EM 2040P was designed to be light and easy to carry, while still providing high quality bathymetric data. In fact, despite being a highly portable shallow water multibeam echo sounder designed for easy transport and quick deployment on any vessel, the EM 2040P offers survey performance up to and exceeding the IHO-S44 special order and the more stringent LINZ specification.

The survey depth range on the small harbour in Amsterdam was between 2 and 20 meters, with an average for the survey of 6 metres. Some small objects on the seabed where clearly noticeable. Of particular interest was a sunken foundation of a floating house (pictured). Shallow water surveying can be very challenging, however the data collected by the EM 2040P was really crisp and clean, making the delivery of survey data fast also from the processing point of view.

Sunken 7 metre boat.

- After a successful day of surveying, de-mobilisation of the system was just as fast and easy as installation, highlighting just how convenient the new EM 2040P multibeam really is.