When most people think of warships, they think big guns, missiles and helicopters. But for hydrographic vessels the most important systems they carry aren’t necessarily their weapons, but their state-of-the-art underwater survey suites. Four SeaSoar undulating oceanographic recorders (UORs) are currently in use on the Royal Navy’s survey vessels, HMS ECHO and HMS ENTERPRISE. These UORs are towed behind the ships and collect a vast range of information using highly advanced oceanographic sensors. 

"Chelsea Technologies Group has completed delivery of a further S2115 oceanographic sensor system, for HMS AUDACIOUS the fourth Royal Navy Astute class submarine," reports Richard Burt, Chelsea's Marketing Director. This follows on the successful delivery of systems for HMS ASTUTE, HMS AMBUSH and HMS ARTFUL. A separate system has also been installed at the Shore Based Integration Facility.  

Water abstraction points may be affected by spills from farms or factories, & deliberate contamination. Early warning monitoring systems are required to alert operators to these contaminants and to changes in key water quality parameters. The new FASTguard has been designed to observe the natural trends in water quality parameters and rapidly detect and report anomalies.

Chelsea Technologies Group announces the development of an ‘on-site rapid diagnostics screening system’ designed to detect and identify micro-organisms following a terrorist attack. The portable platform is designed to be rapidly deployed to any location in the event of a suspected terrorist attack.  

The UK Ministry of Defence has taken delivery of a customized Chelsea Technologies FerryBox system for installation on board the Ice Patrol Vessel HMS PROTECTOR. The FerryBox system is designed to gather continuous real-time data of the surface waters through which the vessel travels. This data will be of value both to the MOD and the larger scientific community.