Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime will supply hydroacoustic and bridge system technology on the South African Navy’s new hydrographic survey vessel being acquired under Project Hotel.
This will be done through its Cape Town-based partner Unique Hydra. Technology to be supplied, according to Kongsberg, includes EM 304 Deep Water Multibeam Echo Sounder, EM 2040 Shallow Water Multibeam Echo Sounder, TOPAS PS 40 Parametric Sub-Bottom Profiler, EA640 Single Beam Echo Sounder, K-Sync Synchronization System, MDM 500 Marine Data Management System and Seapath 380-R3 Combined GNSS and Inertial Navigation System. Kongsberg will also supply the K-Bridge Integrated Navigation System and K-Pos Dynamic Positioning system.
The three survey motor boats that are included in the Project Hotel package will be fitted with the EM 2040 Shallow Water Multibeam Echo Sounder, EA440 Single Beam Echo Sounder and Seapath 130-R3 Combined GNSS and Inertial Navigation System. The boats will be built in Cape Town by Veecraft.
“We are naturally delighted that the South African Navy has chosen Kongsberg Maritime as the main supplier of the hydrographic survey payload and integrated bridge system for their new vessels”, said Oystein Aasbo, Area Sales Manager, Kongsberg Maritime. “The delivery of the Hydrographic Survey Vessel and her Survey Motor Boats will significantly enhance the South African Navy’s survey capabilities both inside and outside of its territorial waters. These vessels will certainly be a game changer for them.”
Steel for the Project Hotel vessel was cut in November 2018 at the Durban-based Southern African Shipyards (SAS). SAS partnered with Vard Marine to develop the hydrographic survey vessel, which will be 95 metres in length with about a 12.24MW installed diesel electric power plant and a maximum speed of 18 knots. The ship will have a 10 000 nautical mile range with 44 days endurance and will be manned by a total crew of 120 comprising ships’ crew and scientists. The vessel will be ice-strengthened to Polar Class 7 requirements.
“It will scan the ocean floor, mapping large areas of the southern hemisphere ocean floor. The vessel is aligned with IMO [International Maritime Organisation] requirements to provide SA Navigational Charts for the SA Coastline as well as the capacity to carry it out to other countries,” explained Greg Delpaul, SAS’s general manager of shipbuilding.
The new ship will replace the SA Navy’s current SAS Protea which has been in service since 1972. SAS was awarded the Armscor contract for the ship in late 2017. The project is expected to take 40 months to conclude.
The project will mean work for about 500 people, including apprentices, artisans, technicians, engineering interns and engineers in different disciplines. Armscor and the SA Navy already have trainees and interns at the shipyard.
Other suppliers on Project Hotel include Reutech Solutions, which will supply four 12.7 mm turrets for the vessel – these are the same type as installed on the SA Navy’s four Valour class frigates. Reutech Communications will supply telecommunications equipment, including V/UHF radios incorporating the Link-ZA datalink system.
Actom Energy is another subcontractor. By using local companies, SAS is ensuring it meets the 60% local content requirement of the roughly R1.7 billion project.
The hydrographic survey capability that will be maintained under Project Hotel will give the SA Navy, as a member state of the International Maritime Organisation, the ability to continue producing nautical charts, survey and oceanographic related data, complying with standards stipulated by the International Hydrographic Organisation.
