FarSounder Sonar for RRS Sir David Attenborough
Artist’s impression of RRS Sir David Attenborough (Image: Cammell Laird and British Antarctic Survey)
The new $180 million polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough currently under construction at the Cammell Laird Birkenhead shipyard in the Port of Liverpool City Region, U.K. is slated to be equipped with FarSounder's longest range sonar system, the FarSounder-1000.
The new, state-of-the-art ship, owned by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), will enable scientists to explore and undertake science in new areas of the Antarctic and Arctic seas.
With the vessel’s ability to embark on longer voyages and explore some of the most remote aquatic regions of the world, the FarSounder sonar will primarily be used for navigation and obstacle avoidance. In addition, its technology and data can supplement the more traditional on-board science mission sensors.
The sonar will be protected during ice breaking operations via a custom hoist designed and built by C4R Maritime Solutions of Frederikssund, Denmark, and tested in the lab at Force Maritime in Denmark. “Having this new solution for specialized vessels, a new world opens up to many more vessels that can benefit from the innovative technology of FarSounder.” said Bill Endersen, senior engineer at C4R.
Last year, FarSounder was integral in the residential ship The World's groundbreaking excursion that reached the Ross Ice Shelf, the furthest south any vessel has ever sailed.
August 2024
