India’s National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has commissioned Fugro to carry out a bathymetric survey along the Andhra Pradesh coast in south-eastern India.

The survey will facilitate the Indian Government’s plans to develop and manage the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to benefit the coastal community and protect marine living resources. The data will also be used for a range of scientific research projects and coastal resilience studies like assessment of coastal vulnerabilities and geohazard potential and ocean climate change.

The six-month project started in November 2021. Fugro will survey around 56,000-line kilometres of coastline in total, collecting bathymetric data in water depths between High Tide Line (HTL) and 30 m.

To gather insights about the seabed, Fugro’s specialist team is using a shallow-water boat equipped with a dual frequency echosounder and a differential global positioning system for data acquisition. For safe and efficient surveying in very shallow water (up to 5 m) and the surf zone area, the Fugro team is going to use jet ski equipped with Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and a single beam echosounder. Real-time kinematic positioning (RTK) technology is being used for topography survey.

Dr G A Ramadass, NIOT Director, said: “We are very keen to maximise the benefits of Fugro’s innovative technologies, which will deliver high levels of data quality and accuracy.”

Mr. Bibhu Nayak, Fugro Country Manager in India, said: “We are honoured to be part of this prestigious project, which will help strengthen our relationship with the NIOT.”