CONTACT
[General
| Booking Inquiries | Considerations]
Mobilization:
'Mobilization' is our term for the process of getting all our gear (and
yours) on board, set up and tested. The process generally takes three
days for the full deep system or two for the mid-depth and live-boat systems.
Thus, the mobilization
date is that date when the ship and crew are to be ready for loading.
A look at ROPOS' current
itinerary is available directly off the home page under the heading 'schedule'
or you can jump there by clicking here. Use your browser's back button
to return here.
Number of
Dive Days:
'dive days' is pretty well self explanatory. This is the number of days
you hope to be at the location(s) of interest, doing what we all set out
to do. What we really want you to consider in all of this is that the
total length of our involvement is the sum of:
- mobilization time.
- ship transit time (mobilization site to work site).
- duration on site, including transits if multiple sites are involved.
- ship transit time (work site to de-mobilization site).
- de-mobilization time (one day in most cases).
Depth:
The working depth has profound implications for every aspect of the operation
- and its cost. The deep system is more complex, more difficult to ship,
set up etc. and requires a larger support vessel. All of these things
add cost. The depth at the site you wish to work is, of course, not under
your control but consider these points: If the site is close to the limit
of the mid-depth or liveboat systems we should discuss this before you
go much further. If there is an alternate, shallower location where the
phenomena or structures you wish to study are known to occur, this may
be more cost effective.
Hours / day:
Consider that the cost of 'being there' may be so high that the only sensible
plan is to work 24 hours a day. There may be incremental costs for the
ship, crew, your staff, etc. but, especially in the case of the deep system,
the trade-off against 'bottom time per day' will usually favour 24hr/day
ops. When considering the live-boat system, the choice is less obvious
and may be dictated by other factors.
Navigation:
Subsea navigation is a complex issue but we can work with some simplifying
assumptions at this stage. In broad terms, long baseline (LBL) will provide
superior positioning with respect to absolute spatial references. If you
are surveying a large area or working around a site that you wish to return
to a week, a year or more later, then long baseline is likely your better
choice. If you wish to do very high resolution video mapping of a particular
structure, ultra-short baseline (USBL) may be preferable. Obviously there
will be situations where both would be an asset but as ever, cost is a
consideration. In either case, the local position is established in absolute
terms with respect to geodetic references via differential GPS (DGPS).
The deep system will
require LBL nav as a minimum. This will involve the deployment of a 'net'
of bottom transponders which will then be calibrated with respect to absolute
geodetic reference coordinates. This will use up half a day or so on site
but the payback in terms of time saved when trying to return to a previously
identified bottom position is enormous. Live boat ops can sometimes be
performed using surface DGPS only. At other times USBL may be required.
Perhaps the most important
point for now is to appreciate that subsea navigation in some form will
be a requirement. If you are not certain what you need, say so. We can
help. No decision taken at this early stage will be cast in stone.
CSSF can provide people
and equipment to do an efficient and professional job of navigation and
that is our preference. If, however a client has the capability and would
prefer to use their own resources, that may be acceptable. We reserve
the right to qualify outside navigation personnel and equipment. Obviously,
bad navigation can limit our effectiveness in a way that would reflect
poorly on all involved and this must be avoided.
Support ship:
The minimum requirements for an acceptable support vessel depend on whether
you require the deep system, the mid-depth system, or the live-boat system.
To a certain extent, the site location and seasonal norms for weather
may be a consideration. Review 'Support ship requirements' under 'The
Vehicle' off the main page for more info. We reserve the right to determine
suitability of a vessel to support a proposed project.
|
