Today’s operations were over the artificial reef site off the coast of Delaware where the USS Arthur W Radford was scuttled. In preparation for the operations, the RV Hugh R Sharp made several passes over the area with its multibeam echosounder or swathe system to map the seabed and get a more precise location for the actual location & depth of the wreckage. Once this data was gathered and discussed with the crew & science team, the RV Sharp was positioned in dynamic positioning (DP) mode to keep it stationary while the Outland ROV was deployed over the side. Members of the science party took turns handling the umbilical tether for the ROV as well as operating the ROV remotely from inside the lab van.

Outland ROV Operations

ROV Operations on CSW

Outland ROV Handling

Bottom Sampling Results

Bottom Sampling Results

ROV Ops

ROV Control Center