Underwater positioning equipment from Sonardyne Asia Pte Ltd. has been selected by PDE Offshore Corporation to support its work on wind farm construction projects offshore Taiwan.
The company has ordered a Mini-Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) system and Wideband Sub-Mini 6+ (WSM 6+) transponder/responders to accurately track the position its underwater equipment, which includes a seabed frame used to guide geotechnical corers.
The Mini-Ranger 2 will be installed and operated from PDE Offshore’s 72-meter long survey vessel MV Geo Energy, which is scheduled to spend this summer working in the Taiwan Strait, evaluating proposed locations for turbine foundations.
Mini-Ranger 2 is built around Sonardyne’s 6G hardware and Wideband 2 digital acoustic technology platforms. At its heart is HPT 3000, a highly capable surface-deployed USBL transceiver optimized for performance in shallow water, as well as high elevation and long lay back operating scenarios and data telemetry.
The size and positioning performance of WSM 6+ makes it a transponder choice for fitting to and tracking underwater vehicles and equipment. Its built-in depth sensor improves USBL precision, while a responder mode allows fast moving targets to the tracked at the highest possible update rate.
Huang Hsin-chih, president of PDE Offshore, says, “Where we work in the Taiwan Strait, water depth is from 20 to 60 meters; in the future, there might be a chance to work in offshore wind farm with water depth from 50 to 200 meters, so whilst we do need a very precise USBL, we don’t need the one that’s full ocean depth capable. Through renting, we have become familiar with Mini-Ranger 2 and the benefits it’s brought to our busy geotechnical operations. So, it was a simple choice to decide to go ahead and purchase one of our own.”
Dan Tan, Regional Sales Manager for Sonardyne in Singapore, says, “Taiwan’s ambitions of becoming a green island means it is fast becoming a leading player offshore wind in Asia Pacific. We’re pleased to be a part this energy transition through PDE Offshore’s investment. Although this will be a permanent installation, Mini-Ranger 2 is also a great option for moving between vessels and even unmanned surface vessels (USVs).”
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