Mt. Mitchell News

February 18, 2010

GLOBAL SEAS LLC, the operators of the Seattle, Washington based R/V MT MITCHELL installed new technology on the ship in April 2008.  The installation included a Kongsberg EM 120 Multibeam Echo Sounder and EM Full Performance 710 High Resolution Seabed Mapping System as well as survey launch capability.  Since the installation of the new technology, the R/V MT MITCHELL has completed several noteworthy charters in the Pacific Ocean.

APRIL 2008
The R/V MT MITCHELL was chartered by UTEC Survey Inc. for Tyco Telecommunications to complete a survey of the ocean floor from Florence, Oregon to Homer, Alaska.  Tyco Telecommunications and Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc. signed a contract to construct an undersea fiber-optic cable system that would provide high-bandwidth connectivity between the the contiguous United States and Alaska.  The R/V MT MITCHELL completed the journey from Oregon to Alaska, with the on-board survey team utilizing the newly installed Kongsberg multibeam technology to report accurate data of the ocean floor.

May – August 2008
The R/V MT MITCHELLwas selected by TerrraSond to complete a charter for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Upper Cook Inlet for navigational purposes.  The MT MITCHELL’S Kongsberg EM 710 Full Performance multibeam sonar was used to complete a portion of the survey.  In addition, the R/V MT AUGUSTINE was operated to carry out the shallow water survey work and used a Reson 8101 multibeam sonar system that was secured to the hydraulic powered retractable arm mount. 

December 2008 - January 2009
The R/V MT MITCHELL played a vital role in the undersea Unity Cable System that links Los Angeles, U.S. to Chikura, Japan.  During the toughest (November-December) months to be navigating the Pacific Ocean waters, the R/V MT MITCHELL was chartered by Williamson & Associates to survey the intended ocean floor cable route from the United States to Japan.  Though the time was not ideal for surveying or navigation, the extensive upkeep, maintenance and state of the art technology aided the R/V MT MITCHELL in completing the mission within the established timeline and within budget. The Unity Cable System will meet the increasing demand for connectivity between the United States and Japan as well as connect various intra-Asian cable systems.

May - June 2009
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Marine Conservation Alliance and TerraSond enlisted the R/V MT MITCHELL to help complete ocean mapping of the Pribilof Canyon in the Bering Sea.  The onboard Kongsberg EM 120 and EM 710 Full Performance were essential in completing the survey that covered depths from about 200 to 2,100 meters.  The multibeam survey of Pribilof Canyon was completed in June by TerraSond, funded by NOAA and MCA.  Following the canyon survey, the Kongsberg EM 710 was utilized to survey areas within king crab essential fish habitat. The scientists were able to collect bathymetric and “backscatter” components of the acoustical data and generate new seafloor maps.

June 2009
The R/V MT MITCHELL was again chartered by TerraSond for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), but this time was to survey and chart the deep water portion of the Unimak Pass with the Kongsberg EM 120.  According to NOAA, the Unimak Pass had not been surveyed since the early 1900’s.  The results of the survey will be used to update nautical charts, which are used by the 3,000 ships that travel through the pass annually. The Kongsberg multibeam technology allowed NOAA experts to get a full picture of the ocean floor.

August - October 2009 
Fugro Geoservices chartered the R/V MT MITCHELL in August 2009 to help complete a high resolution geophysical survey in the Chukchi Sea using the Kongsberg EM 710 and two dimensional seismic equipment.  This shallow hazard survey was successfully completed for Shell Exploration and Production to plan for safe sighting of drilling operations.  This was the R/V MT MITCHELL’s first expedition in the Chukchi Sea.

Other Noteworthy Missions

April - May 2006
Nauticos, a company specializing in deep-ocean search and underwater problem solving, chartered the R/V MT MITCHELL in search of Amelia Earhart’s 37 foot plane that disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.  During the mission, they were able to map the planned search area, but the plane was not found or recovered.

ABOUT THE R/V MT MITCHELL:
The R/V MT MITCHELL is a 231 foot ship formerly operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  She was purchased by a partnership between Aleutian Spray Fisheries and Nina Fisheries and is managed by GLOBAL SEAS LLC, a vessel management company headquartered in Seattle.  Principals in these companies, Mr. Cary Swasand and Mr. Robert Desautel have been committed to outfitting the R/V MT MITCHELL with state-of-the-art research instruments providing the best possible data gathering platform for a variety of applications. The Aleutian Spray/Nina partnership brings together over 100 years of fishing industry and vessel management experience in creating a comfortable work platform with multi-mission capabilities and integrating the most modern work and living spaces.  The vessel has seen duty in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in a variety of oceanographic support and survey roles including an environmental and biological assessment of the Persian Gulf in the environmental aftermath of the Gulf War.

Sparing little expense in the workmanship and components of the newly outfitted vessel, the owners proudly offer the R/V MT MITCHELL for charter to various organizations that include the government, commercial, and scientific communities. The R/V MT MITCHELL installation of hydro-acoustic equipment provides not only hydrographic survey capabilities but the option of collecting water column data.  Data collected from both multi-beam systems which range in frequency at 12 kHz and 70 kHz to 100 kHz will provide unique acoustics acquisition and post processing capabilities.  The R/V MT MITCHELL is the only commercial vessel that hosts this robust suite of equipment that can provide metrics for habitat mapping as well as bottom backscattering.  These additional capabilities will allow the R/V MT MITCHELL to provide contributions to fisheries science and management.

April 1st, 2008

GLOBAL SEAS, LLC, the operators of the Seattle, Washington based R/V MT. MITCHELL is pleased to announce the vessel has just been outfitted with a Kongsberg EM 120 and EM 710 High Resolution Multibeam Mapping System capable of meeting all relevant survey standards including those of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)  With these new systems, the MT. MITCHELL is able to map the deepest oceans in the world, surveying in waters to 11,000 meters.  For shallow water surveying, in less than 11 meters, the MT. MITCHELL deploys a 34 foot, twin diesel engine launch. In addition the MT. MITCHELL has been outfitted with both an anti-roll tank as well as upsized anti-roll chocks.  These additions will eliminate much of the boat’s natural roll and provide prime conditions for more precise mapping. A 20 inch hull bottom sea chest has been installed to accommodate a Kongsberg High Precision Acoustic Position System (HiPAP) for tracking towed side scan, ROV and AUV. Other through hull sensors for scientific work can be deployed. This exciting development makes the R/V MT. MITCHELL one of the best privately owned vessels with state-of-the-art capability to perform seabed mapping to full ocean depth with an unrivaled resolution, coverage and accuracy.

The MT. MITCHELL will be operating this summer collecting data for Terrasond Surveys of Palmer Alaska, conducting nautical charting surveys of the Cook Inlet.  Her sister ships, the FAIRWEATHER and RAINIER continue operations in the NOAA fleet. These ships have been commended as extremely efficient platforms for conducting coastal hydrographic survey operations.

The MT. MITCHELL is also expected to work with UTEC Survey, Inc., a Houston corporation, mapping a cable route along the West Coast of the United States.

MT. MITCHELL, commissioned in 1968, had been in service as a Hydrographic Survey Ship with the NOAA.  She was completely refurbished and updated by GLOBAL SEAS and put back into service in 2004.  This significant modernization to the highest SOLAS, ABS and USCG standards provides an unmatched habitability standard for crew and scientific compliment.  During this most recent dry dock, the MT. MITCHELL completed a rigorous five year ABS special survey. This unique, state of the art vessel boasts comfortable berthing for up to 47 non-crew personnel, a large galley with a 38-seat mess hall, a comfortable lounge, multiple computer and lab spaces with high-speed data connections, among other amenities.  There are over 3,000 sq feet of working deck space accessible by a 15-ton pedestal crane, a 32ft. launch, and an articulating A frame.

For more information and charter opportunities, please contact Global Seas LLC, at 206-770-7801 or info@globalseas.com