London, 1 November 2023 – The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, the initiative leading the global effort underway to map the world's ocean floor by 2030, is pleased to announce its latest partnership with GeoAcoustics, a leading innovator in marine technology.
Based in the UK, GeoAcoustics has been a prominent provider of subsea sensors and equipment for over four decades. The company specialises in the design, development and manufacture of advanced side scan, bathymetry and sub-bottom profiling sonar-systems. The company’s innovative technology is capable of delivering exceptionally high-quality marine data, and its field-proven hydroacoustic products have transformative implications for the maritime industry, particularly in the realms of seabed mapping and research.
With the integration of powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI), the GeoSwath 4 bathymetric sonar offers real-time, quality-controlled data acquisition, reducing costs and survey time as data can be accessed onboard in real-time, or remotely during the survey. These advanced AI capabilities introduce new efficiencies that streamline marine survey workflows, making it easier for organisations to share high quality bathymetric data with the Seabed 2030 Project.
Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO), which seeks to inspire the complete mapping of the world’s ocean by 2030, and to compile all the data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map. The Project is formally endorsed as a Decade Action of the UN Ocean Decade. GEBCO is a joint programme of the IHO and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and is the only organisation with a mandate to map the entire ocean floor.
"Advancements in marine technology are essential if we are to achieve our goal of mapping the ocean floor entirely by the end of the decade," commented Seabed 2030 Project Director Jamie McMichael-Phillips. “It’s thanks to innovative technologies, such as those offered by GeoAcoustics, that we can make great strides in our collective understanding of the ocean.”
Richard Dowdeswell, Chief Commercial Officer of GeoAcoustics said: “The production of seabed maps is the cornerstone of everything that happens at sea, which is why we’re proud to partner with Seabed 2030 and have our products play a key role in realising the ambitious yet necessary mission to map 100 per cent of the ocean.”
All data collected and shared with the Seabed 2030 project is included in the free and publicly available GEBCO global grid.
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Notes to Editors
For more detailed information on The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, please visit our website, seabed2030.org, like our Facebook page, follow us on X @Seabed2030, or contact enquiries@seabed2030.org.
For Seabed 2030 media enquiries, contact:
Pegah Souri
pegah.souri@shearwater.global
+44 (0)7951 581707
For GeoAcoustics media enquiries, contact:
Saul Trewern
saul@theoceanspace.com
+44 (0)7312 105130
The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and GEBCO. The Seabed 2030 Project, launched at the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2017 by Chairman Sasakawa of The Nippon Foundation, coordinates and oversees the sourcing and compilation of bathymetric data from different parts of the world’s ocean through its five centres into the freely-available GEBCO Grid. Four Regional Centres cover the Southern Ocean, the Arctic and North Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the South and West Pacific Ocean. These feed data products into the Global Data Centre. The IHO Data Center for Digital Bathymetry (DCDB) serves as the long-term archive for Seabed 2030. Find out more about the project and how to get involved.
GeoAcoustics Ltd delivers innovative, field-proven technologies for customers working in the inland waterway and marine hydrographic surveying, dredging and marine-research fields. Headquartered in Great Yarmouth, UK, with a global presence through a network of channel partners, the company specialises in the design, development, manufacture, and commissioning of advanced side scan, bathymetry, and sub-bottom profiling sonar-systems.
GeoAcoustics Ltd has been a partner for the offshore energy, subsea, and marine survey sectors since 1978 and has had two different corporate owners in this time. The company returned to independent ownership in December 2019, and continues to develop innovative products, like sonar technology that is capable of outperforming multibeam echo sounders and AI systems that unlock IHO S-44 standard marine data in real time. Visit GeoAcoustics.
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