Topaz Tangaroa is being converted into the first of two planned Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance ships for underwater surveillance and seabed warfare to be operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. (Royal Navy)
Danish offshore engineering and survey company Eiva has been contracted to supply a containerised Remotely Operated Towed Vehicle (ROTV) system for operation from the UK's new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) Seabed Warfare platform.
A contract between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – through Navy Command Commercial – and Eiva worth GBP3.3 million (USD4.15 million) became effective on 24 August. A voluntary transparency notice notifying the award was published the following day.
The MoD in January 2023 acquired the commercial offshore support vessel MV Topaz Tangaroa for conversion to an MROS Seabed Warfare platform. Purchased from Topaz Energy & Marine at a cost of GBP65 million, the vessel is now completing modifications for its new role at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead ahead of entering service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) later this year as RFA Proteus . Tasked with safeguarding the UK's undersea communications and energy infrastructure, Proteus will be the first of two planned MROS ships to be operated by the RFA.
Navy Command's containerised ROTV requirement called for a system to perform seafloor mapping, large area search and mine countermeasures, cable route surveys and pipeline inspection, high-resolution object detection, and oceanographic data collection through the water column as part of a seabed warfare ‘system of systems'. In this context, the equipment will be employed to operate a broad range of acoustic survey sensors and instruments simultaneously down to a maximum depth of 1,000 m.
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