TSS Ltd., U.K., Supplies Electronic Motion Compensation System For U.S. Dredging Project

TSS (U.K.) Ltd. supplied its electronic motion compensation system to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a project to enable the latest generation of containerships to use the Port Newark- Elizabeth Marine Terminal. Previously, ship draft was limited to 35 ft. (11 m) and it was considered by port officials that this restriction had resulted in some vessels being diverted to other ports. Work on the project began three years ago, with completion scheduled for later this year, by which time more than five millioncu.- yards of spoil will have been removed from the site. The final $ 112 million clean-up phase is now underway, after which there will be a full electronic survey.

Survey work for the entire project is being carried out by the N.Y. District Army Corps of Engineers using its two large survey vessels, Hatton and Sentry, both of which are equipped with TSS Motion Compensation Systems.

The TSS 320 Motion Compensation System on each vessel is used in conjunction with a Ross Dolphin boom type survey system which employs a 10-transducer array. For this type of operation, any vessel roll will have a significant effect on the accuracy of the sounding data.

To date, a total of three and a half million soundings have been taken along the seven-mile channel, although further surveys will be conducted to verify the results of the rock removal project. Once this has been completed, the Corps of Engineers will certify the channel to a depth of 40 ft. (12 m) below MLW, allowing the U.S. Coast Guard to open the Channel later this year for larger vessels.

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