Seawork exhibitor sends survey boat to work

CREH Tracer 4 was purchased by the Centre for Research into Environment and Health to carry out detailed analytical research.

Using the Cheetah Long Wheelhouse version of the 7.9m gave plenty of room for the extensive fit out required for a full specification survey boat. The two suspension seats on storage pods and a side bench seat behind the helm provide seating for the three or four man crew. The port side work top has stainless steel racking below, the racking supported on rubber suspension units to house the computers.

Twin Honda 135hp four stoke outboard engines supply plenty of power for fast steaming between survey sites. The economy of these engines has proved to be excellent for many Cheetah customers. Twin inbuilt fuel tanks of 180 litres give the boat an ample range to carry out the packed work programme already lined up. Stainless steel keel bands, folding roof mast gantry, gunwale capping and a full set of rails to MCA specification were all fabricated at the Cheetah Marine yard on the Isle of Wight. Cheetah also built and supplied the aluminium trailer to transport the vessel between sites. The vessel is MCA coded for Category 3.

CREH Tracer 4 will be working immediately on delivery and, in 2012, will make major contributions to projects in the upper Severn Estuary, Swansea Bay and the Ribble and Fylde coastal areas.

The Cheetah 7.9 is the fourth vessel added to the CREH survey capacity and it will make initial contributions in two main areas of science. The first is the deployment and sampling of novel microbial tracer systems, developed by CREH AnalyticalLtd. These can be released from several sources synchronously to deliver accurate time of travel and dilution information on multiple potential sources such as outfalls and riverine inputs which may potentially impact key sites such as bathing and shellfish harvesting waters. The second is the deployment of swath bathymetry, which is planned for installation to CREH Tracer 4 in late 2012.

David Kay, who leads the CREH team said, ”We have experienced rapid growth in demand for the marine survey side of our activities since 2007 and, in particular, the microbial tracer investigations, which provide unparalleled ‘ground truth’ data for the hydrodynamic modelling community.

“The Cheetah 7.9 provides the best platform with which to further develop this capability. The boat’s unrivaled strength, safety and rough weather endurance are well established. This, combined with the option to tow the Cheetah on the road and its potential to cover our swath bathymetry needs, with the installed moonpool, made acquisition of the Cheetah 7.9 an easy and obvious choice for CREH Ltd.”