In May 2005 Del Norte was called to Maputo in Mozambique to assess a dredger the port intended to use to clear the silting channel approaches to Maputo port. The dredger the Aruangwa, based in Beira , Mozambique is a Japanese funded vessel that although has an

Adequate dredge capability it has basic installation of equipment to monitor the dredge operation .The GPS was old and unreliable and the DeGroot system for draft and load had fallen into disrepair due to lack of spares and maintenance and possibly lack of experience by it’s crew.

Having successfully gaining the contract we supplied a new PC system installed with Hypack  DredgePack, A new CSI VectorPro GPS Compass was installed together with, radio tide gauge receiver and an Entek Bubbler system for controlling the draft, pipe depth and attitude. Together with extra TFT Flat monitor’s around the bridge the complete system brought the dredger up to 2005.

A shore reference station using DGPSmax GPS receiver in RTCM output mode , and a Satel 3AS data link was set up to give the survey a better accuracy. A Valeport tide gauge 740 was deployed with another Satel UHF modem to transmit the real-time tide to the survey vessel and dredger.

For survey the vessel Sashki is set up with a laptop PC running HypackMax, Reson 215 Dual channel Echo Sounder, tide gauge receiver and Differential modem receivers and a CSI DGPSMax GPS receiver.

The main area of concern to the Port authorities was the Pollana channel which had fallen into a heavily silted area do to neglect over a considerable time. This will be followed by the outer channel.

 

                                            

 

Dredging operations are becoming a new expertise of Del Norte together with the excellent Hypack DredgePack software.

 

 

 

 

Del Norte Technology Limited
Telephone: +44 (0)1793 827982
Fax:          +44 (0)1793 827984                
e-mail: lsmith@del-norte.co.uk