Mississippi Dept. of Marine Resources Purchases Triggerfish T4H ROV

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources based out of Biloxi, Miss., purchased a fully loaded Remotely Operate Vehicle (ROV) from DOE, Inc. (formerly Deep Ocean Engineering) in November 2012.

The Triggerfish T4H ROV is a redesign of one of the most popular ROV’s ever made, Deep Ocean’s Phantom HD2. The Triggerfish T4H consists of four brushed thrusters that provide 42 lbs of forward thrust and two “vertrans” thrusters that provide 24 lbs of vertical and lateral thrust with a DOE camera on a 180° tilting mount.  In addition to the base vehicle configuration, the vehicle was equipped with a Tritech MicronNav USBL Tracking System, a BluView Dual Frequency Sonar, two DeepSea Power and Light SeaLaser100s, a rear facing black and white DeepSea Power and Light Multi-SeaCam, and a DOE single function manipulator/cutter.  Mississippi Artificial Reef Program Coordinator, Kerwin Cuevas, and his crew Jimmy Sanders and Eric Broussard, participated in a week long training to familiarize themselves with the complete ROV system so that they can run and maintain their vehicle to gather data for their program.  MDMR will utilize the ROV to aid in the management of their 15 offshore reefs which cover 16,000 acres and their 67 inshore reefs which are a mix of recycled materials, piers, and jetties.  The ROV is ideal for the sampling techniques of the agency and matches nicely to the environment it will be working in.  The sizing lasers, camera, lights, and dual frequency sonar all are able to tilt so that videographic data and sonar data can be matched up to the same field of view. With the visibility of the waters off the Mississippi coast having moderate to high turbidity, the dual frequency sonar can find areas of interest for the crew rather quickly.  Kerwin has stated that, “The vehicle performs better than we expected and it will aid in conducting our surveys and research immensely.”

DOE, Inc strives to provide purpose built ROVs with integrated solutions to our clients and a high level of customer service.  The Triggerfish T4H is a highly adaptable open frame vehicle and the ability to add multiple sensors or tools makes this vehicle one of the most widely sought after vehicle designs on the market today.

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(As published in the March 2013 edition of Marine Technologies - www.seadiscovery.com)