M.V. Fugro Equator and the Hunt for MH370

With the imminent the start of the next phase of the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which is likely to get under way towards the end of September, it is interesting to take a look at the vessels and systems which will be participating, as it promises to be a very challenging search due to the harsh weather common to the area and a complex seafloor. Detailed information is being gathered on the topography of the ocean floor west of Australia, which confirms the seabed in some locations to be extremely rugged. This key survey, of a largely uncharted deepwater seafloor, will guide a millimetric search using towed side-scan sonars, magnetometers, sub-bottom profiler and AUVs. The Australian authorities have warned that the search could take a year to complete. The search area covers the general location in the southern Indian Ocean where investigators believe MH370 is most likely to have come down.

 The Dutch vessel Fugro Equator and the Chinese vessel Zhu Kezhen are presently assembling a bathymetric (depth) map covering a 60,000 sq km area. The Fugro Equator, equipped with a state-of-the-art Multibeam echosounder, boasts a specially designed hull, diesel electric drive and rudder propellers, which help optimize fuel efficiency, navigational control and station-keeping capabilities. The vessel was designed to minimize conducted vibration from the machinery and infrastructure, including the use of vibration dampeners and the result is an acoustically quiet platform, enabling high quality data collection.

Permanently installed equipment includes the latest in digital seismic, seabed and sub-seabed mapping systems. Acoustic positioning is provided by a through-hull USBL system. Surface positioning is Fugro Starfix high precision, GNSS. All acquisition, navigation, processing, charting and reporting systems are networked and integrated through industrial grade servers.  The vessel can carry out a full range of offshore survey services from simultaneous analogue/digital site surveys through to route surveys. In addition, an AUV system can easily be mobilized on the vessel without affecting other survey capabilities. ROV Inspection and more complex Geotechnical spreads can be mobilized as required. The vessel is considered to have very comfortable accommodations for the crew, with en suite single and double cabin for 42 technicians/crew.

Technical Specifications

Classification - GL + 100 A5 “Survey Vessel” IW + MC AUT, DP1

Owner - Fugro Equator Inc.

Ship Manager - Fugro Marine Services Pte. Ltd

Built - 2012

Port of Registry - Nassau, Bahamas

Dimensions

Length Overall - 65.65m

Beam - 14.0m

Draught - 4.20m

Tonnage - 1917 Gross tons

Operating range - A1 to A3

Machinery

Propulsion - 2 x 1100kW Rudder Propeller (electric)

Bow Thruster - 1 x 400kW (electric)

Cruising Speed - 10.0 knots

Max Cruising Speed - 12.5 knots

Endurance - 35 days

Electrical Power  

Diesel Generator sets 3 x 910 kW

Emergency Generator - 1 x166 kW

UPS clean Power - 40 kVA

Capacities

Fuel Capacity - 375m³

Water Capacity - 76m³ (75 tons)

Water Making - 8 ton nominal per day

Deck Machinery

Deck Crane - 1 x SWL 3T/12M crane

Hydraulic A Frame - 12,5T static, 7,5T dynamic

Launch Boom - 2x2.5T