Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ships are crewed by business mariners beneath contract by Navy Sealift Command. MSC’s oceanographic survey ship program contains six ships that carry out acoustical, organic, bodily and geophysical surveys.
“As a way to succeed on land, within the air and sea, you need to know the setting,” stated Cmdr. Cassandra Sisti, U.S. seventh Fleet Oceanographer. “We work along with our nation’s greatest scientists on the Naval Oceanographic Workplace (NAVOCEANO), in addition to our allies and companions, to ship this battlespace consciousness to our warfighters. This environmental staff helps preserve our sailors and ships secure and in a position to excel of their operations throughout your entire theater.”
Margaret Pike, senior NAVOCEANO consultant, and Captain Scott Spears, the ship’s grasp, led the excursions of the ship and fielded questions in regards to the ship and its capabilities.
“This was an incredible alternative for us to satisfy the operators, and for them to see what our platform is able to,” stated Spears. “We delight ourselves on offering the warfighter with the very best obtainable info – bathymetric, hydrographic, oceanographic, geophysical and acoustic services– to assist in efficient mission planning.”
Oceanographic survey ships collect knowledge that gives a lot of the navy’s info on the ocean setting. The collected knowledge helps to enhance know-how in undersea warfare and enemy ship detection. The oceanographic and hydrographic survey ships’ multi-beam, wide-angle precision sonar methods make it doable to repeatedly chart a broad strip of ocean ground. Survey ships have charted three-fourths of the world’s coastlines, making it simpler for navigators to search out their approach alongside each well-traveled and not-so-familiar delivery routes.
These ships are able to carrying 34-foot hydrographic survey launches (HSL) for knowledge assortment in coastal areas with depths between 10 and 600 meters and in deep water to 4,000 meters.
Submarine Group 7 directs forward-deployed, fight succesful forces throughout the total spectrum of undersea warfare all through the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Sea.
For extra information from Commander, Submarine Group 7, go to www.csp.navy.mil/csg7/.
