WiFi Underwater Mapping Comes Online For Superyachts

WASSP Goes Wireless with New Remote Mapping System

Award winning multi-beam sonar manufacturer WASSP Ltd. debuted its latest system – now for super yacht applications.

WASSP-Wireless has been designed to address superyacht captains’ concerns about underwater obstacle avoidance, hull damage or grounding the vessel.

Suited for use when navigating in unknown waters or where marine charts lack sufficient detail, WASSP-Wireless aims to take the risk out of the equation for the captains of these very large and very expensive vessels. 

Installed in the tender or support vessel of a super yacht, the WASSP-Wireless system uses a wifi radio link to send a real-time sea floor map back to the super yachts bridge system and display on a MaxSea navigation plotting platform - all in real-time.

Using a wide angle, multi beam transducer, WASSP-Wireless quickly and accurately covers the seafloor. With one pass at a depth of 20m, WASSP-Wireless will map a swath over 60m wide using 112 sonar beams and renders an information-rich 2D or 3D real-time image on the bridge.

Seafloor topography, rock or coral outcrops, obstacles are clearly identified giving large vessels the opportunity to navigate safely into or through areas that would have previously been seen as ‘off limits’.

WASSP Managing Director Gareth Hodson said the systems ease of installation makes it the perfect application for large luxury vessels. “Unlike other avoidance systems, the transducer is mounted in the hull of the tender, thereby avoiding the need to slip and engineer transducer hull penetrations on the super yacht - usually an exercise super yacht owners like to avoid,” Hodson said. “Alternatively for ‘rapid deployment’ the transducer can be pole mounted to the side of a tender.”

With more than 700 WASSP systems installed globally, WASSP is used in a wide variety of commercial applications from defense, hydrographic to commercial fishing. Its proven design, performance and reliability in these demanding markets makes it an ideal candidate for super yachts where the same system requirements are expected.

According to the manufacturer, WASSP-Wireless is  specifically designed for super yacht applications, simple to install, easy to use and provides a complete solution to exploring uncharted locations and anchorages.

http://wassp.com/  

*Original story: Marine Link via Google News  (search term: wifi underwater mapping)
*Image courtesy NOAA National Ocean Service/flickr/CC.2.0)