RESON has been awarded a new contract for delivery and installation of a SeaBat 7150-F dual-frequency deepwater sonar system on the R/V White Holly in May.

The delivery of the SeaBat 7150 is the first RESON sale of a deepwater system to an independent owner. Until now the White Holly, owned by Captain Vincent Backen, has primarily been an educational and research vessel used in academic circles such as Scripps, MBARI, US Fish and Game and the Smithsonian.

In 2008 White Holly performed exceptionally well with the SeaBat 8160. With this new investment in the SeaBat 7150-F sonar system, White Holly Expeditions LLC will be able to offer deepwater hydrographic capabilities and counter the shortages of hull-mounted vessels commercially available on the west coast of America.

Based in Sausalito, CA, White Holly is an open resource vessel available for hire for any midwater and deepwater multibeam survey. It is capable of working anywhere in the world. White Holly is a 133ft vessel equipped with a SeaBat 8160 for depths down to 3,000m. It can comfortably accommodate 12 surveyors.

The new SeaBat 7150 is RESON’s advanced deepwater multibeam solution for detailed bathymetry from 200m to below 6,000m. It provides the ultimate in resolution, performance and system expandability. The SeaBat 7150-F version is configured for 12kHz and 24kHz operations with focused beam widths of 2º×2º and 1º×1º respectively. The sonar system will be installed in an 8m gondola that was recently shipped from Denmark.