Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) has received a contract from German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) to supply a research vessel for a survey in the Indian Ocean.
The contract was secured on Tuesday, December 05, 2017, through the tender procedure.
The vessel will be deployed southeast of Mauritius along the Central Indian Ridge and Southeast Indian Ridge to carry out offshore surveying and sampling tasks.
The aim of the survey is to provide detailed bathymetric data of the seabed in the vicinity of potential areas of massive sulphide fields.
In addition to the bathymetric data acquisition, the occurring rocks, sediments and ores will also be sampled.
For this purpose, the research vessel will be equipped with a modern fan echo sounder system, which will allow not only the creation of bathymetric maps but also the reading of backscatter data.
The operation area covers water depths between 2500 and 4000 meters.
Subsea World News Staff