Second ex-US Navy surveillance ship joins EGS fleet

UK-based EGS Survey has begun full time operations of Bold Explorer, the newest addition to its fleet of multi-purpose vessels.

Bold Explorer is the second ex-US Navy Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship to be acquired by EGS, the first being Geo Resolution which joined the company’s fleet in 2014.

As a former specialist surveillance ship, the 68-metre-long vessel is designed to be acoustically quiet which means the acoustic sensors such as the seismic and multibeam systems have a higher signal to noise ratio, resulting in superior data quality when compared to conventional non-specialist vessels.

The conversion on Bold Explorer was done in Singapore in the first quarter of 2020. After a series of trials in the South China Sea, the vessel completed mobilisation for its first contract under its new owners.

In addition to multibeam echosounders and a hull-mounted pinger, Bold Explorer is equipped with winches for deployment of geophysical and geotechnical equipment to 2,000 metres water depth, various sampling devices, and a dedicated survey launch for inshore surveys.