MacArtney Beefs Up French Survey Vessel

MacArtney France has supplied multibeam solution for the bathymetric vessel ‘Ingénieurs Lesbordes’ to carry out surveys close to the harbour of Bayonne in the south-west of France, and has carried out modification which were imperative to the successful adaptation of the vessel to the prevailing IHO survey standards.

Located on the western border between Basque Country and Gascony, the harbour of Bayonne belongs to the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine which is under obligation to provide information to the various harbour operators about the depths in the areas of the harbour.

The bathymetries produced are essential for navigation (permissible draft, obstacles) and dredging operations (decision support, control) and they are also necessary for the hydro-sedimentary knowledge of the river Adour, the various channels of access to the harbour, as well as for the supervision of works and the monitoring of the structures.

The Bayonne vessel has been equipped with MacArtney’s multibeam solution consisting of a Kongsberg Maritime EM 2040P shallow water multibeam echo sounder, a Valeport miniSVS sound velocity sensor, an Ixblue Hydrins high-performance inertial navigation system which is a hydrographic survey INS, and a Trimble SPS 855 GNSS modular receiver combining the radio and GPS receiver in a single housing.

The vessel has also been modified to meet the requirements for bathymetric surveying carried out throughout the administrative perimeter of the harbour of Bayonne as well as on the sediment immersion areas of dredging at the coast or offshore and environmental monitoring areas for dredging.

“We have experienced a very fruitful working relationship with the various business partners having been involved in making this project succeed,” says David Mazzochi, managing director of MacArtney France. “The owners of this modified bathymetric vessel, region Nouvelle Aquitaine, has expressed respect and contentment with the serious and professional workflow presented by our staff during the installation, tests, validation, and training.”