Geo Plus Introduces Hybrid Survey Ship Geo Focus

Survey company Geo Plus will soon be putting into service its brand new survey ship Geo Focus. This innovative, hybrid ship will be officially christened on 23 June.

The 35 metre long Geo Focus, which Geo Plus commissioned, was developed through a collaboration between Studio Yacht and De Haas Maassluis shipyard. The ship is equipped with ultra-advanced hydrographic measurement equipment for carrying out seafloor surveys. In line with Geo Plus’ vision of sustainability, the Geo Focus has been equipped with innovative diesel hybrid propulsion. This results in lower fuel consumption, less emissions, reduced noise and vibrations on board and less maintenance work. The survey ship also has a sleek hull design to minimize resistance. Through its proprietary fleet of ships, Geo Plus is able to provide end-to-end and accurate soil measurement services to domestic and foreign companies, authorities and governments.

The Geo Focus can operate autonomously for two weeks at locations throughout the world. The ship’s climate system allows crew members to work in temperatures from -15 up to +50°C. Furthermore, the Geo Focus’ various satellite systems facilitate swift data traffic with the shore, so that clients can directly analyse the high resolution sonar data. This is a real timesaver when it comes to planning projects of such a large scope. For instance, the Geo Focus can be used to map locations for windmill parks at sea or undersea pipelines (for oil and gas exploration).

Clients of Geo Plus can either hire the ship with a full crew complement or with just the nautical crew members. The ship provides berths for a total of 18 crew members, and its multifunctional design means the Geo Focus can be used on almost any project. This complements the aims of Geo Plus; end-to-end service provision to clients through a combination of internal expertise and experience and partnerships with specialist parties (in the area of seismic surveys of sites, soil samples, ordnance detection, wreck removals and underwater robots).

 Green character

The Geo Focus is designed completely in line with Geo Plus’ philosophy of minimizing its environmental impact. The ship can sail in hybrid mode, in which the two main engines are shut down and the ship is propelled by a more efficient diesel-electric engine. This is possible because the ship mostly travels at a speed of 0 up to 8 knots during surveying activities. This results in a reduction in fuel consumption of up to 70% during these activities and less maintenance being required for the propulsion engines, which in turn means less maintenance costs. The Geo Focus will also be awarded the Green Passport of Lloyds Register for using as much recyclable materials as possible.

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Offshore Nieuws  Staff, June 24, 2012; Image: Geo Plus