Atlas’ ROV Team Visits the RV Celtic Explorer

4 February 2015

At the end of January, Atlas’ ROV team was given the opportunity to visit the RV Celtic Explorer during its recent stay at Falmouth Docks. The vessel owned by the Marine Institute was undergoing a refit which included an upgrade of its multibeam echo sounder system.  

Account Manager William Best and Personnel Coordinators Leanne Stephenson and Alyce Finney were taken on a tour of the whole vessel, escorted by the Explorer’s Technical Manager Michael O’ Conghaile.

“At a time where the declining fortunes of the Oil & Gas markets have been a popular topic of conversation in the Survey and ROV communities, it was encouraging to see how other segments of Atlas’ portfolio are set to experience a productive 2015 and 2016,” says Account Manager William Best. “We believe that Atlas is in an even better position to provide operational support to P&O from an ROV and Survey perspective in 2015.”

The team were shown around the fishery, the Engine room, the Moon pool and the Bridge.  The purpose of the team’s visit was for P&O to discuss their future survey and ROV projects with Atlas Professionals and its ROV team.

The vessel is used for a number of research disciplines such as Fishery, acoustic, oceanography, buoy handling, environmental sampling, geological and hydrographic analysis. Since arriving at Falmouth harbour, the vessel has been fitted with an EM2040 Multibeam system for shallow water mapping, an IxBlue Sub-bottom profiler and an EM 302 Multibeam system which will enable the Explorer to map the seabed at a higher resolution and with more accuracy up to depths of 6000m. 

“It was great to visit Michael and the rest of the crew onboard the Celtic Explorer,” says Personnel Coordinator Leanne Stephenson. “It gave me a better understanding of how the vessels are set up and of what our contractors do onboard.”

“Visiting our clients’ vessels really assists us in recruiting the right personnel for their jobs,” says Personnel Coordinator Alyce Finney, “it gives us a good insight into their workspaces and daily offshore life.”

The vessel’s next assignment will be to complete a survey in the North and Baltic Seas before starting operations in the Celtic Sea to provide crucial data for the development of Ireland’s fisheries.